Is Libra Sideways Steem? Oh Well there's something Positive to Take out of it

It is probably not new information that Facebook are working in the background to release what they describe as a decentralized Blockchain called Libra, well if you haven't heard, now you know. I doused the news with a little bit salt. Actually it was a lot more than a pinch because it had my anti-establishment alarm bells tingling. A large number of people around the cryptoverse are here because we want to get away from large corporations like these that take all the profit for themselves and limit our freedom. Now there's these guys trying to jack our style and even stole our logo

The whitepaper that is presumambly suppose to shed more light on the issue left me a tad bit bamboozled because I don't understand a lot of the technical terms but after reading this break down I found on Medium, I also had a few questions

Is it Really Decentralized?

The Libra protocol allows a set of replicas — referred to as validators — from different authoritiesto jointly maintain a database of programmable resources. These resources are owned by differentuser accounts authenticated by public key cryptography and adhere to custom rules specified by thedevelopers of these resources. Validators process transactions and interact with each other to reachconsensus on the state of the database. Transactions are based on predefined and, in future versions,user-defined smart contracts in a new programming language called Move

Whitepapers are not my favorite documents to read because it always feels like there's a conscious use of technical terms to whitewash the facts. The paper discusses the use of "Validators" who I presume are like the witnesses and then talks about an internal manipulation of the value to ensure it is stable like this excerpt points out

The [Libra coin] reserve is the key mechanism for achieving value preservation. Through the reserve, each coin is fully backed with a set of stable and liquid assets. The Libra coin contract allows the association to mint new coins when demand increases and destroy them when the demand contracts. The association does not set a monetary policy. It can only mint and burn coins in response to demand from authorized resellers.

I wonder who the "authorised sellers" are. Every thing seems so vague at this moment but maybe we need not worry about this. Yes because I decided to over look whatever drawbacks it may present and focus on the positive effect it will have on crypto generally.

Crypto Awareness

This is best part. It often feels like I'm talking to a brick wall when I try to indulge my contacts about cryptocurrency related issues on my facebook. My friend @samirich is just about the only one who responds to those posts and if I'm being honest, he's not exactly the one I'm trying to reach out to. When Libra gains ground and is common around the billions of people using Facebook, it will definitely have a positive knock on effect on Bitcoin and by extension Alt coins.

Things are going to get STEEMY!!!

It's actually a win-win situation for us all. When the reality of cryptocurrency has dawned on the masses at facebook land and they start getting a bit more curious about the so called "decentralization" and all the fancy words that the Libra project is throwing around, there will most likely be an influx of people into steemit comminuty.

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I expect large investment in Bitcoin and altcoins like steem because it will seem like the closest alternative. This will redefine value, especially for people in typical social media channels that have largely participated for free.
I'm also putting my neck on the line by predicting that somewhere along the line, developers on the Libra blockchain will clone or create something very similar to steemit.

Leverage is one of My favorite Words

Just as @paulag pointed out in this enlightening post, it is also a nice idea to use the announcement in your favour. Better you strike while it's hot by the way. The article discusses if Libra will help or damage steemit's prospects, then she proved how subtly riding the wave of Libra announcement in a tweet increased traffic in her personal business.
I also ran into this tweet from Harmony protocol, I don't know much about them either but it is brilliant way to get attention.

The Whitepaper doesn't divulge much information at the moment so it is all speculative. I'll be keeping my eyes on this project and will discuss any of my findings. I would love to hear your thoughts and opinion about the issue? Thank you for visiting.