The biggest threat to Bitcoin is back on track

When social media giant Facebook revealed that it would release its answer to bitcoin this year, the cryptocurrency community was stunned.

The subsequent international backlash against Facebook’s scales served as both a vindication for bitcoin and a cause for concern: How would governments allow bitcoin to exist if Facebook’s scales couldn’t?

When the first supporters of the project abandoned it, many thought that Libra had died in the water. But Facebook and its stubborn leader Mark Zuckerberg aren’t ready to give up yet.

Last week, Facebook’s independent Libra Association revealed its new recruit, adding a member for the first time since many of its biggest corporate supporters fled the ship, most of whom would see their core business undermined by the balance, for what it’s worth.

Vodafone, for example, withdrew from the Libra project last month to focus on its digital payment system, while the involvement of former Libra Association members Visa, Mastercard and PayPal has always been a mystery.

Facebook itself is not part of the Libra Association, a governing council for the libra cryptocurrency, although its subsidiary Calibra, effectively a digital wallet for the libra token, is.

Now, however, the Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify, which boasts around 1 million businesses from 175 countries on its digital platform, will join other members of the Libra Association by contributing at least $ 10 million and running a node that processes transactions. for Libra, a so-called stablecoin, which means it will float against a basket of traditional currencies.

“As members of the Libra Association, we will work collectively to build a payment network that makes it easier to access money and supports merchants and consumers everywhere,” Shopify said in a blog post.

The official reason many of the founding members of the Libra Association escaped the project was due to the fierce regulatory response to the project: US President Donald Trump tweeted his opposition and broader cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, while the his treasury secretary has branded bitcoin as a “national security risk.”

Meanwhile, in the months following Libra’s inauguration, central bankers around the world have taken action, promising that their digital currency initiatives were well underway and the need for tech companies like Facebook to do what they had before. failed was not necessary.

The price of bitcoin, which was sent sharply higher in the first half of 2019 as rumors swirled that Facebook and other Silicon Valley giants were watching bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and blockchain, was wrong, losing about half of its value in a few. months.

However, the Libra Association has not rested on its laurels. He has worked to address the concerns of regulators and has always said he wants to work closely with regulators prior to the launch of Libra.

Following the news Shopify will join the Libra Association, now 21, strong of the company, Dante Disparte, head of politics and communications of Libra, said that the group is “proud” to welcome its new member and spoke of the troubled initiative.

“Shopify joins an active group of Libra Association members committed to a secure, transparent and consumer-friendly implementation of a global payment system that breaks down financial barriers for billions of people,” said Disparte. .

If Libra, which is yet to launch next June, is able to achieve these ambitious goals, even the biggest Bitcoin advocates will find it much harder to convince others that the world needs Bitcoin.