Libra can’t have the support of the people because people don’t trust Facebook, whereas Amazon could create their own cryptocurrency because “we all trust Amazon”. This was said by the American writer Ben Mezrich, author of the best-seller “Billionaires by chance” in which he tells the story of Facebook, which later became a reference film: The Social Network.
Mezrich talks about it on Squawk Box, CNBC’s television talk show, during an interview with Joe Kernen, Becky Quick and Andrew Ross. The writer finds the idea of a mass-oriented cryptocurrency fantastic but does not believe that Facebook has the necessary trust to create a globally widespread cryptocurrency.
“This is all about trust. You can’t have a bank, you can’t be a new currency without people trusting it if you’re going to sit in the middle of it, and people don’t trust Facebook”,
said Mezrich.
Pressed with questions, the author of the recent book Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption dedicated to the Winklevoss twins, says that the e-commerce giant Amazon has the necessary people’s trust in order to create a cryptocurrency for mass adoption.
“I think that Amazon could pull this off because for whatever reason we all trust Amazon. We put our credit cards in there everyday”.
The words of the American writer are echoed by the request of a consumer protection group made to the 28 companies that support The Libra Foundation to withdraw from the project.
Libra is not a cryptocurrency
Mezrich moves past the discussion about the trust that Facebook lacks to establish a currency for the masses, he says that Libra is not a cryptocurrency because it is not peer-to-peer, it can be considered a digital currency but, for a variety of factors, it is not like bitcoin.
However, Mezrich believes Libra is good for bitcoin because it allows people to make a comparison between the two assets and understand why BTC is better: “because there is no actor at the centre who needs to be trusted,” concludes Mezrich.
What the Winklevoss brothers think of Libra
The journalist from Squawk Box asks Mezrich, who wrote a biography of the Winklevosses, what they think of Libra.
The writer replies that according to the Winklevoss twins Libra is positive, however, the problem lies with Facebook and its lost trust.
