Name: 為什麼Facebook的天秤座在成為加密巨頭的道路上困難重重？ (Why Facebook's Libra Faces a Tough Road to Becoming a Crypto Giant | WSJ)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T08:29:47.000Z
Duration: 3 min 39 s

Facebook's proposal to create its own digital currency called Libra has gotten a lot of backlash from global regulators.

臉書打算創造屬於他們自己的數位貨幣 Libra 的計畫，引起了全球監管機構的反彈。

Facebook has burned down the house over and over.

It's been the subject of acidic U.S. congressional hearings and France's finance minister went so far as to say that it was an assault on national sovereignty.

這已經是酸言酸語的美國國會聽證會上一直在討論的主題，而法國財政部長甚至說這是對國家主權的侵犯。

Officials in other countries, including China, Germany, and Italy has expressed similar concerns.

其他國家的官方，包括中國、德國和義大利都表達了相似的擔憂。

Here's what regulators are worried about.

For one, lawmakers worry that Libra has the potential to disrupt the monetary system.

首先，立法者擔心 Libra 有瓦解貨幣制度的可能。

If Libra becomes the currency for Facebook's 2.4 billion or so users, to say nothing of other companies that might accept it, it could become a globally-significant currency.

如果 Libra 成為臉書 240 億左右用戶使用的貨幣，先不談其他可能會接受的公司，它可能會成為全球性重要的貨幣。

Libra is going to be what's called, in crypto markets, a stablecoin.

Libra 會成為在加密貨幣市場中所稱的「穩定幣」。

It'll be a pegged currency that maintains, basically, a one to one value with the U.S. dollar.

它會成為一種固定貨幣，基本上維持與美金 1:1 的價值。

Bitcoin trades freely, and its value is determined solely upon what people are willing to pay for it.

比特幣能夠自由買賣，它的價值僅僅取決於人們願意願意花多少錢去買。

To maintain that peg, the group that will be governing this currency, called the Libra Association, will maintain a reserve.

為了維持這個掛鉤，將會負責管理這個貨幣的團體，Libra 協會，將會保留儲備金。

For every dollar's worth of Libra that is created, one dollar is going to be put into the reserve.

每價值一塊的 Libra 產生，就會有一塊美金被放入儲備金內。

Theoretically, that means that this reserve could hold billions or even trillions of dollars' worth of currencies and short-term securities.

理論上，這代表這個儲備金能夠掌握價值幾十億甚至幾兆美金的貨幣和短期債券。

That is a very powerful tool in capital markets.

這在資本市場上是非常強大的武器。

If that money got moved around significantly from one currency to another, it could absolutely upset global markets.

如果這筆錢被大量地從一種貨幣轉移到另一種，那絕對會打亂全球市場。

Now, that's not to say that Facebook or the Libra Association is expected to do something like weaponize these reserves.

現在，這並不是說臉書或 Libra 協會打算做些將這筆儲備金武器化的事。

However, this is the first time that, not a government, but a private company or group of private companies would have that kind of power.

然而，這是第一次，不是一個政府，而是一間私人公司，或是一群公司私人公司，能夠擁有這樣的影響力。

Facebook and the Libra Association of companies backing the project say they are committed to working with authorities to achieve a safe, transparent, and consumer-friendly implementation of the digital currency.

臉書以及替這項計畫背書的 Libra 協會各公司表示，他們致力於與各國當局合作，以履行該數位貨幣貨幣安全、透明且對消費者友善的目標。

Lawmakers, who are already looking into Facebook for a number of other reasons, are not comfortable with Facebook's power.

因為其他許多原因已經在調查臉書的立法者們，並不樂見臉書的影響力。

The tech company is battling scrutiny on multiple fronts, from its role in elections to privacy to even antitrust investigations.

這間科技公司正在接受多方面的審查，從它在選舉中扮演的角色到隱私權，甚至到反壟斷調查。

They don't respect the power of the technologies.

Facebook's business model, its role in spreading propaganda, and its controversial efforts to rein it in have infuriated lawmakers.

臉書的商業模式、它在宣傳活動中的作用，以及它充滿爭議的約束力都在在激怒了立法者。

We will have to make very strong commitments so that people trust us and we will have to honor those commitments for a very long period of time to earn people's trust.

我們將需要做出非常堅固的承諾好讓人們信任我們，而我們需要非常長期地信守這些承諾來贏得人們的信任。

At the core of a lot of the distrust among governments is that Facebook has been criticized for its handling of user data before.

許多政府對於臉書的不信任主要是源自於，過去臉書曾因處理用戶資料的方式被批評。

And Libra would create a traceable record of all its users transactions.

而 Libra 會使所有用戶的交易留下可追蹤的紀錄。

Just imagine a company being able to combine your identity, your online habits, and your spending patterns.

試著想像，有一間公司擁有結合你的身份、網路習慣和消費模式的能力。

這將會是前所未有的資料之海。

At this summer's congressional hearings, Facebook executive David Marcus said the company and the Libra Association will keep the spending data separate from the user identities.

在今年夏天的國會聽證會上，臉書的高層 David Marcus 表示，臉書和 Libra 協會會將消費資料和用戶身份分開。

Lawmakers, of course, were skeptical of that.

立法者們，當然，對此非常存疑。

I have serious concerns with Facebook's plans.

我對臉書的計畫有嚴重的擔憂。

Regulator scrutiny is one of the reasons Libra's viability has been called into question.

監管機構的審查是 Libra 的可行性被打上問號的一個主要原因。

And some key companies that initially backed the project have ducked out, with Visa saying its decision to work with the project in the future depends on Libra's ability to satisfy regulatory expectations.

一些最初支持該計畫的關鍵性公司退出了，Visa 表示其將來是否參與這項計畫的決定，取決於 Libra 能否滿足監管機構的期待。

We'll have to wait and see whether this scrutiny from regulators makes Libra stronger or ends up threatening its existence altogether.

我們只能等著看看，究竟監管機構的審查將會使 Libra 更加強壯，抑或是最終威脅到它的整個存在。