Facebook Called Delusional' Over Crypto Plan as Senate Digs In

[brooklynite]

Source: Bloomberg

Republican and Democratic Senators sharply questioned Facebook Inc.’s plan to create its own digital money, adding to a chorus of skepticism across Washington and underscoring the challenges the company faces in getting its cryptocurrency off the ground.

Senator Sherrod Brown, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, compared Facebook to a toddler that plays with matches. Speaking at a Tuesday hearing examining Facebook’s proposed digital token, Brown said he was worried about the company moving into the space considering the “havoc” it has already wreaked on other industries.

“Their motto has been move fast and break things,” said Ohio’s Brown, a Democrat, in his opening statement. “They certainly have. We’d be crazy to let them experiment with peoples’ bank accounts.”

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican, said Facebook’s ambitions show that Congress needs to give consumers “real control” over their data to prevent companies from misusing it. He also raised concerns over Facebook’s "massive reach and influence within society" and the vast amount of personal information that the company had access to.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-16/facebook-gets-sharp-questions-as-senators-tee-off-on-crypto-plan

[Jim__]

1. Does the Senate have any actual control over this?

I agree with their concern. Is there an understanding of all the implications of digital money? If not, then I think the government needs to get some control over this until it has such an understanding.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Governments can't track money flows now

why let corporations create another currency? What do they need it for? Smuggling and tax evasion.

Dark Money pools move billions without crypto. Who needs more secrecy? Finance by fiat, finance by invisibility.

If you really want to disembowel the Fed, the US dollar and foreign currencies, allow transactions to occur
with no measurement, no control, no oversight, in an energy-intensive escapade called "mining".

I doubt crypto will survive. Governments worldwide need to get out ahead of this.