Facebook Libra Interest Spikes, Pushing The Bitcoin Price On
Story by: Billy Bambrough
Facebook, the social media giant that’s found itself caught in a web of scandals over recent years, is gearing up to release details of its much-hyped potential rival to the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, bitcoin, with a white paper detailing plans for Facebook Libra expected later today.
The bitcoin price has surged over the last few months as interest in payments from the likes of Facebook, other major social media platforms, and some of Silicon Valley’s most valuable companies sparks a fresh wave of crypto mania after the bitcoin price slumped sharply throughout 2018.
Facebook Libra, a potential rival to bitcoin, has reportedly secured backing from the likes of ride-hailing app Uber, music streaming service Spotify, and payments giant Visa. While Facebook Libra, which has also been linked to the name GlobalCoin, might compete directly with bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies, many have taken it as an endorsement of bitcoin’s core technology and value.
Elsewhere, Facebook’s social media rival Twitter is looking to bitcoin itself as the potential “future of internet money,” with chief executive Jack Dorsey last week reiterating his faith in bitcoin and beginning to make cryptocurrency hires at his payments company Square.
Facebook’s bitcoin rival will likely be a so-called stablecoin, pegged to the U.S. dollar and other major currencies, and is expected to be integrated as a payment tool on Facebook’s popular messaging apps WhatsApp and Messenger, and photo-sharing app Instagram.
Original story: https://tinyurl.com/y47l8vw2
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