The social media’s blockchain lead also confirmed he would be testifying before both the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee on the project later in July 2019, according to CoinDesk.
Marcus sought to address a number of issues including whether Libra is actually decentralised, why a charter for the Libra Association is missing, can Libra actually address financial inclusion and, perhaps most notably, he addressed the widespread distrust of Facebook in the wake of Cambridge Analytica, 2016 election interference.
While Libra will be controlled by a small number of entities at launch, it will gradually decentralize over time, he said.
“People will have many ways in which to use Libra and access the network”. Consumers can use a range of custodial and non-custodial wallets that will have full interoperability with one another, “meaning you’ll be able to pay and receive payments across wallets from different companies, or use a software wallet you’d operate on your own.”
Regarding financial inclusion, Libra will not solve poverty, however has the possibility to lower the drawbridges to financial services for anyone with “a USD 40 smartphone and connectivity”.
The company’s profit model for Libra would come from any commerce that occurs across its family of apps by ensuring that ads are more effective and advertisers are more motivated to buy space on Facebook’s platforms, he said.
The Calibra subsidiary’s public documentation specifies that Facebook would not have access to any financial data from the wallet provider.” We’ve been clear about our approach to financial data separation and we will live up to our commitments and work hard to deliver real utility”.
“Bottom line: You won’t have to trust Facebook to get the benefit of Libra,” Marcus wrote.
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