Facebook's new cryptocurrency, Libra, should give financial access to the social platform's users, even those without a bank account. But this financial freedom is not without risk. 

A borderless digital world where individuals interact with each other freely and easily has long been a tech dream. Its application to the payments area promises to deliver a fast, inexpensive alternative to traditional banking systems.

Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra best embodies this promise. Set to launch in 2020, it has been created for buying and selling things and transferring funds on the 2 billion user-strong social media platform. It will offer a global alternative to existing national economic and monetary systems and empowers Facebook users, whether or not they have a bank account, to have financial access. It cuts out retail banks, fintechs and any other middlemen; it is inclusive; and it frees users from the traditional currency structures. But Libra’s most revolutionary aspect might yet be that it powers a new wave of regulation.

Global economic activity will not relocate to Facebook as soon as Libra is born. This means that the interplay between the new ‘stable-coin’ – a digital currency that is based on a basket of existing assets such as the US dollar – and the actual currency that users keep their savings, investments and mortgages in must be examined and controlled to safeguard consumers. The new system would also need to be monitored and protected against money launderers and other criminals. Unsurprisingly, the G7 has quickly created a working group to look into these areas.

Furthermore, the new and potentially more frequent interactions through Libra would create new – and potentially very valuable – data sets. Rules about the storage and use of such data will likely be created, and not just at the hands of legislators in parts of the world such as Europe that value privacy. With ongoing concerns about the role that Facebook may have played in political events the past few years, this is a global issue.

It is hard to imagine how the Libra genesis could avoid the creation of rules to control its existence. So, in an ironic twist, what Facebook’s most disruptive innovation might more readily deliver is greater attention to the importance of consumers’ protection, rather than to their financial freedom.

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