2019-1-16 23:10 |
Should Facebook Be Trusted With Crypto?
Facebook made a lot of news in 2018 and not all for the right reasons. Their Cambridge Analytica scandal lost them the trust of the general public and sparked worldwide conversation about privacy and how user data is handled by big corporations.
Towards the end of the year, they began making news for other reasons as it was rumoured that Facebook wanted to create a Cryptocurrency-powered messenger app. They will not be the first to enter this race as the team behind Telegram is also working on theirs.
They have also announced the ongoing creation of a stablecoin which will be sent over WhatsApp, a messaging service owned by Facebook.
However, the dark cloud of Cambridge Analytica still hangs over Facebook and brings up the question of whether they should be trusted with such tech.
A Track RecordThe reasons for people’s distrust of a Facebook-backed cryptocurrency that doesn’t yet exist is tied to their past behaviour on the last 3 years.
When the Cambridge Analytica scandal occurred, it was revealed that Facebook had been selling user data of over 80 million users to a Political firm hired by then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. They offered to help identify the personalities of various voters as well as means by which their opinions could be manipulated.
They didn’t stop there as during a security breach in September where 50 million accounts were compromised, they censured Facebook users from posting about it.
This attack on free speech has led many to believe that Facebook is not compatible with the idea of blockchain and crypto which are built on the principle of uncensored freedom of expression and transactions.
Cryptos, by their design, are to be decentralized and were created as a means to fight back against powerful but exploitative corporations and as such, it is ironic that a company with such a track record wants to make use of it.
What Will Likely Be DoneShould Facebook launch their crypto-powered messaging service, they will likely do so with their own native token rather than the more established ones.
How successful this will be, however, cannot be said yet. There is some debate as to whether their Facebook token will be able to compete with giants like bitcoin.
After all, Facebook did try to expand into emails but couldn’t defeat established services like Yahoo! and Gmail. Only time will tell, however, if this case will be different.
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