94) Libra w/ David Gerard

Facebook tried to disrupt the world - and the world says "no." Facebook launched Libra in June 2019. Libra would be an international currency and payment system. It would flow instantly around the world by phone. It could even "bank the unbanked." But Libra would also make Facebook too big to control- and lead the way for Facebook's Silicon Valley fellows to swing the power of their money as they pleased. Facebook and their friends could work around any single country's rules. Libra could shake whole economies and Facebook would become the "digital identity" provider to the world. Governments looked at Libra - and saw another 2008 financial crisis in the making. Facebook's plan would have made the company even more entrenched - at the cost of broken economies worldwide; starting with toppling the US dollar.

"Libra Shrugged" is the story of a bad idea.

Bio: David Gerard writes the cryptocurrency and blockchain news site Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain. He is the author of the 2017 book Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Ethereum & Smart Contracts and the 2020 book Libra Shrugged: How Facebook Tried to Take Over the Money. Until he reinstalled the laptop they were on, he was the proud owner of six Dogecoins. He remains a frequent, if occasionally annoyed, user of Facebook.

As well as being a crypto journalist, David also works as a Unix system administrator, where his job includes keeping track of exciting new technologies, and advising against the bad ones. He has also been an award-winning music journalist, and has blogged about music at Rocknerd.co.uk since 2001. He is a volunteer spokesman for Wikipedia, and for skeptical wiki RationalWiki.org. Originally from Australia, he lives in east London with his spouse Arkady Rose and their daughter.

Website - https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/