Libra Shows Off Technical Progress While Ignoring Mounting Regulatory Hurdles
The Libra Association highlights growing developer activity and testnet milestones but completely avoids discussing the fierce global regulatory backlash threatening its 2020 launch.
The Libra Association proudly announces significant technical progress on its blockchain testnet, noting 1,700 GitHub commits, 40 built wallets and tools, and 51,000 mock transactions over the past two months. Heavyweight tech and financial companies like Coinbase, Uber, and Facebook's Calibra actively run transaction-processing nodes, with all 21 current members having nodes operational or in development.
Despite this robust technical momentum, the association completely omits any discussion of the fierce regulatory backlash that complicates its projected 2020 mainnet launch. The update fails to explain how the project plans to expand to its goal of 100 members or address serious government concerns regarding money laundering, asset security, and monopolistic power.
Meanwhile, Facebook hedges its bets by rolling out Facebook Pay across Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, achieving much of the transactional revenue and advertising insight it originally sought from Libra. By focusing strictly on code rather than addressing policy and security concerns during its core summit, the Libra Association takes the easy route while leaving its most existential threats unresolved.