Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts

Why The Winklevoss Twins Say Facebook Won't Exist 10 Years From Now....

Winklevoss twins facebook comment

Here in Silicon Valley, by the time Facebook began making headlines, most already knew the name 'Winklevoss'. Facebook was starting to explode, MySpace was clearly dying out, and when the topic came up somebody would often ask 'Do you think Zuckerberg stole Facebook?'.  But as far who he may have stole it from 'Some twins he went to school with, named Winklevoss or something' is about all people knew.

It was the movie "The Social Network" most learned the name, and the story - where unfortunately they were portrayed so unlikeable, the audience rooted for Zuckerberg to win when they sued him claiming they were the rightful owners of Facebook.

There was no 'winner' - Zuckerberg settled out of court, but the Winklevoss twins sure seem to be winning big today.

With the legal battle behind them, they were ready to take their place in Silicon Valley, until startups began refusing their money...

Facebook was still considered a start-up, but the hottest one at the time, and these were the guys who just finished trying to sue them.  While nobody really knew who was right, that was enough for companies to decide to keep their distance.

So, they used that Facebook settlement money to invest in Bitcoin, which at the time was selling for $8 and had a community with an 'everyone is welcome' attitude. Their first venture beyond owning BTC was helping to fund BitInstant, launched at a time when the Silk Road was probably the reason most people were making their first bitcoin purchase. By no fault of their own, they found themselves shut down when the government claimed their site was being used by drug dealers laundering money.

The CEO, Charlie Shrem spent a year in jail, since their role as investors kept them distanced from the liability that comes with running day to day operations, they managed to remain free.

That's where the motivation to launch Gemini came from - and that's why it's the most regulated and government approved exchange out there...

In 2015 they became the first crypto exchange with the same license major banks hold, granted by the New York State Department of Financial Services - which holds enough weight this allowed them to open their doors to accept funds from all 50 states.

Since then Facebook and Crypto grew bigger than anyone could have imagined - and the Winklevoss twins and Zuckerberg can accurately be referred to as 'billionaires' because of it.

But who will the future favor? The Winkelvoss twins believe Facebook won't be around for the next decade...

“The idea of a centralized social network is just not going to exist five or 10 years in the future. There’s a membrane or a chasm between the old world and this new crypto-native universe. And we’re the conduit helping people transcend the offline into the online.” Tyler Winkevoss tells Forbes.

They're also helping to fund the tech to make it possible, becoming seed investors in Protocol Labs, which is focused on creating a decentralized internet that works independent of today's centralized server structure. 

Many in the crypto world will know the company from Filecoin, and later this year one of their workshops happens to be on building a decentralized social network, like Facebook.

The big shift is coming...

Frankly, Facebook seems to become more 'uncool' every day, if it didn't already earn that title when everyone's parents and grandparents joined. Zuckerberg has his own ventures into the crypto world in motion, but Facebook needs a facelift, and I doubt throwing some blockchain based features on top of it is the key to becoming cutting-edge again.

If successful, the Winklevoss twins won't be the next Zuckerbergs, no one will. That's the appeal - and they say playing the role of 'gatekeepers' in a decentralized world was never one of the goals. 

But in one sense, decentralization is like social media 10 years ago - we know it's going to be huge, but don't yet know exactly how it will fit into everyday life.

What dApp will be first to draw in hundreds of millions of users? I have no idea, but I'd bet my wallet it'll happen - and there's something exciting about that. On the other hand, I'm not sure if traditional social media has anything exciting on the horizon. 

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Author: Ross Davis 
E-Mail: Ross@GlobalCryptoPress.com Twitter:@RossFM
San Francisco Newsroom / Breaking Crypto News

Facebook's 'Libra' Cryptocurrency Scared Chinese Government Into Developing Similar - Now Libra Is Stalled, And China Keeps Moving...

The process of understanding digital currencies began in China all the way back in 2014, when the Chinese Central Bank conducted basic, preliminary 'studies' - just so they would know what they were dealing with.

But lately, China has made it clear they're done learning.  The student may soon become the teacher.  That is, China is on a path to lead the world as the first country with true digital national currency.

While Venesuala's Petro is technically issued by the government, that nation's political issues stopped the Petro from being a functional  currency used in the global market. Because the nations rejecting it would still be rejecting it whether it was a cryptocurrency or not, so we can't consider the Petro an example of how a national cryptocurrency would function.

One of my sources, an analyst within a well known firm in the blockchain space has had the Chinese government as a client for awhile now, but only lately have they stepped things up, he explained: "Actions accelerated last October when they wanted to know every possible outcome of replacing the renminbi with a cryptocurrency.  Their goal being to reduce the costs inherent to issuance of paper money." 

He continued, touching on their general sentiment currently "They seem convinced of the advantages of crypto, and still debating potential disadvantages.  We're one of a few outlets providing a neutral 3rd party opinion.' 

Looking in to what was happening publicly around this time in October, we saw the approval of a new law for the use of cryptography, and President Xi Jinping offered statements in favor of considering some blockchains central technologies for "important and innovative advances".

Why the sudden acceleration? China's Fear Of Facebook.

Everyone I spoke to that I consider an expert on China said the same thing - they looked at Facebook's plans for Libra, and went into panic mode. 

Facebook and China have consistently clashed - they're very aware that Facebook is outside of their sphere of control.

"To them, the plans for Libra could have been presented by a US Government official and it would have been received the same - that's how they view Facebook. An American company, that tried to bring their platform to China but still wanted to follow US rules - not conform to China's" a contact who works inside a Hong Kong based crypto exchange told me.

There's a disaster coming if things don't change...

While Libra may have lit the fire that put China into overdrive, Facebook's fire here has been snuffed out by the US Government.

I'm no fan of Facebook, but I also never viewed Libra as a threat to other cryptocurrencies, if anything, it would serve as an easy first step into the cryptocurrency world, where people could get their feet wet.  Libra users would soon wander deeper into the waters, having gotten over the initial fear of using cypto for the first time.

American politicians actions against Libra may end with a global coin that isn't bound to USD, but the Yuen instead.

The clips I've seen of elderly US politicians who clearly lack any basic knowledge of how cryptocurrencies work, grandstanding and flexing their authority to Zuckerberg on TV seem dead set on hauling Libra.

Meaning China could end up first to market with a big global cryptocurreny, while the US is at a complete stand-still.

Like it or not, the combination of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and the ability to aggressively push the users of these apps to try Libra, is a shortcut to 'mass adoption' no one else can mimic.

I get not liking Facebook, but I don't get stopping them just to allow China to do it instead.

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Author: Adam Lee 
Asia News Desk

Silicon Valley Blows, As Crypto Valley Grows...


When a government makes an effort to stay current on tech, they become capable of regulating things the right way - making sure they do not interfere with innovation, and targeting only bad actors, with precision.

Switzerland is proving that making this extra effort comes with rewards, as they continue to attract highly desirable companies to their country.

There's been no ICO scams, or pump and dumps, among the 800+ cryptocurrency/blockchain based companies that call Crypto Valley home.  In fact, this community of legitimate companies would likely participate in exposing and removing anyone that risks tarnishing the area's reputation.

It's the exact opposite of what we're seeing happen here in Silicon Valley (our headquarters). 

The US is using laws written before the invention of the internet to regulate the new, emerging tech sector of cryptocurrency and blockchain.

Add politicians that are way too comfortable stepping in front of a microphone, having done minimal research, and spewing inaccurate, overblown fears based in ignorance. It's enough to scare even the most legitimate companies away, worried they'll get shut down simply out of lawmaker's confusion.
The end result - billions in revenue, and thousands of jobs lost by the USA - while Switzerland shows no signs of slowing down.

For a recent example, look to Silicon Valley giant Facebook - they won't be expanding their campus here, because Crypto Valley has been named the location for their "Libra Foundation" Headquarters.

Commentary from GCP Editor In Chief: Ross Davis
Video courtesy of: CNN Switzerland. 


Amazon is Up To Something, and It Involves Cryptocurrency - Could Facebook's Libra Have a Rival in The Works?

Sources inside an Amazon research department, not related to the online retail business they're best known for, but within the AWS (Amazon Web Services) branch of the company says - they've spent the last couple weeks focused on gathering data related the cryptocurrencies.

Speaking to the Crypto Press Association, the source shares:

"I want to be clear, i'm not making or implying any product or feature is coming because that would be jumping to conclusions I don't have.  Equally, I can't rule that out either." they continued "With that said, this is the type of data the leadership here requests before deciding *if* we'll be launching something new."

Asking for what types of data we're talking about here "I think 'a general overview' would be the right term to use.  Basically, the current most used cryptocurrencies, reasons people choose one over another, any additional advantages and disadvantages, and the technical specs - transactions per second, security, anonymity, total tokens circulating now, total still to be mined, etc."

This source is someone I worked with on a project here in Silicon Valley years ago, before they were with Amazon, and before I owned any cryptocurrency - so I felt comfortable enough to pester them to speculate what this is all about.

It took awhile, but they gave in.   As long as I promised to put this disclaimer in bold - this is nothing more than a guess, they said:

"When the Facebook Libra thing was what everyone was talking about, there was a sentiment around here that Amazon would be infinitely more qualified to take the lead on a project like that, compared to Facebook. We don't have their track record for privacy violations, and in my opinion that alone means a lot of people will never touch it. But mainly, if the purpose is to improve how transactions are done, well, literally no one does more transactions than us.  We alone could accomplish what Facebook needs dozens retail partners for."

I think this sentence was a great summary of the point "Think about it - if Amazon is on board you're talking about almost every product out there now available to be purchased with the cryptocurrency."

In closing, I was given a reminder "Remember, like any office building full of millennial tech professionals there's no shortage of people who own cryptocurrency inside of Amazon.   Remember, we registered AmazonBitcoin.com years ago and it still forwards people to the regular homepage.  Don't think we're just discovering the crypto world now." 

Could it happen?!

Facebook recently warned investors that 'Libra may never see the light of day' - could Amazon rise up as a better qualified choice to execute something similar?

Or if Libra happens, will Amazon be competing?

Tell us what you think, Tweet us @GlobalCryptoDev


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Author: Ross Davis
E-Mail: Ross@GlobalCryptoPress.com Twitter:@RossFM

San Francisco News Desk


US Crypto Traders - 
Claim Your $25 BTC...


Comparing US Treasury Secretary's Concerns Over Crypto, with Reality - And The Results are Disturbing...

Well, I sure feel silly.

I confess - I was thinking like a conspiracy theorist when I learned the final details around Libra, the upcoming cryptocurrency led by Facebook and backed by dozens of other major corporations.

Libra's entire model is so dependent on the US Dollar, that together with their plans to be used world wide - I thought "Surely this was planned WITH the US Government" or at least while consulting with them.

But I couldn't have been more wrong, as we learned this week that isn't the case, when US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin instead came out and expressed huge concern over the whole thing.

The fact is, and i'll explain why - this could only strengthen the USD if it succeeds, and have no effect on it if fails.  Hardly cause for huge concern.

So is the word 'cryptocurrency' really just so confusing, that it can create reactions like this?

Let's compare these fears, with the simple truth.

If you're catching up, here's the basics:

Libra is a 'stable coin' so it will always be worth exactly $1, every 1 Libra = $1 USD.  So unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum and others - this won't be a coin you find people investing in for profit.  It's only use is transnational.

They will then hold USD reserves to back up each Libra coin in circulation.

Now let's look at the two categories the Treasury Department's concerns fall under.

1) Integrity of the US Dollar...

A Libra token represents literally nothing more than a US Dollar, no different from one in your bank.

This is the main reason i'm stunned by Secretary Mnuchin's reaction. 

One huge reason for the strength of the US Dollar, is that it is the global standard currency for buying oil.  There's a reason the US uses every trick in the book, and writes a few of their own to keep it this way.

On that note, the USD has likely already gotten a boost from being the dominate crypto-to-fiat pairing on exchanges with an international user base, it's commonly the only fiat currency someone can 'cash out' to, regardless of where they're located.

Now imagine if Libra is successfully adopted around the world. USD is suddenly involved in a lot of transactions it wouldn't have been in before.

For example, perhaps some retailers here in the UK begin accepting Libra.  At the same time, it begins to catch on with the public.

Like me, while in your home country you probably use your nation's currency. So here, 99% of my transactions are done using the Pound (£) along with those in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Now throw a USD backed coin like Libra into the mix.

Suddenly transactions that would have never involved the US Dollar, are completely dependent on it. Every purchase I make here, Libra will need to hold an equal amount in USD there.

2) Illegal Usage...
The other concerns expressed are the usual "Libra could be misused by money launderers and terrorist financiers” babble we've all heard before, typically about Bitcoin.

There is no honest way to disagree with the following point:  Cryptocurrencies are infinitely more traceable than fiat currency.

Another plus: funds can be tracked outside of US borders even when they enter a hostile nation.  This is thanks to a public ledger, there is no cooperation needed.

But paper cash is completely untraceable.

Even digitally - you can buy a pre-paid Visa or Mastercard with paper cash, giving someone totally anonymous electronic transfers.

This means the truth is, cryptocurrencies do not offer a single, real advantage for criminals that they cannot find elsewhere. 

In closing....

While I can't say i'm thrilled Facebook is making it's entry into the sector, I can say between them, and the other companies involved in Libra, they have the lobbying power to basically force members of the US Government to get educated on the topic.

Because hearing leaders standing in front of microphones, saying things so inaccurate they should be embarrassed to say them, is getting old.

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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk