Facebook’s Libra could be a step towards 666
(Facebook’s Libra logo)
Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency, tentatively named Libra, has been in the news. Notice, for example, the following:
When Facebook announced its new digital currency, Libra, on June 18, the company changed the conversation about the viability of cryptocurrencies. It immediately surmounted one of the most important obstacles: users. With 2.7 billion customers across its platform (that includes Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp), Facebook has a user base like no other. Unlike most crypto projects, Facebook doesn’t have to convince people to sign up: It has them, and Libra will be integrated into apps that are already a part of their daily lives.
Facebook has also benefitted from a decade of bitcoin’s trial and error. 06/29/19 https://qz.com/1655319/the-winners-and-losers-of-facebooks-libra/
I’ve heard Libra is a “stablecoin.” What is that, and how does it figure into this?
Libra is a stablecoin — kind of! Unfortunately, much like “cryptocurrency,” this is something of a semantic gray area.
Basically, any cryptocurrency pegged to either a fiat currency (say, the US dollar) or some kind of government-backed security (like a bond) counts as a stablecoin. The idea is that there’s more stability — hence the name — and less volatility than in something like bitcoin, which isn’t pegged to anything. Bitcoin is exactly as valuable as people believe bitcoin is, which makes it very, very volatile.
Unlike most stablecoins, though, Libra isn’t pegged to one specific currency. Libra is pegged to a group of “of low-volatility assets, including bank deposits and government securities” in multiple currencies. While there is a Libra Reserve, Libra doesn’t seem like it’s necessarily pegged to its value. Rather, the reserve functions as a kind of lower bound on Libra’s value.
That means that there’s just one Libra, no matter where you live. Levine is great here, too, so I am going to paraphrase him again: if Libra does catch on, it’s likely to displace currencies like the dollar. That’s because if you spend mostly Libra, perhaps because you buy most things online, you’ll only convert your Libras into dollars for when you need to spend IRL money, and the dollar will begin to seem annoying to you since it keeps moving up and down relative to the Libra. “The goal is for Libra to be more useful than any national currency, accepted in more places and with fewer complications; pegging it to a single national currency would only hold it back,” Levine writes. https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/26/18716326/facebook-libra-cryptocurrency-blockchain-irs-starbucks
Facebook released its white paper explaining Libra and its testnet for working out the kinks of its blockchain system before a public launch in the first half of 2020.
Facebook won’t fully control Libra, but instead get just a single vote in its governance like other founding members of the Libra Association, including Visa, Uber and Andreessen Horowitz, which have invested at least $10 million each into the project’s operations. …
Facebook is launching a subsidiary company also called Calibra that handles its crypto dealings and protects users’ privacy by never mingling your Libra payments with your Facebook data so it can’t be used for ad targeting. …
The 28 soon-to-be founding members of the association and their industries, previously reported by The Block’s Frank Chaparro, include:
- Payments: Mastercard, PayPal, PayU (Naspers’ fintech arm), Stripe, Visa
- Technology and marketplaces: Booking Holdings, eBay, Facebook/Calibra, Farfetch, Lyft, Mercado Pago, Spotify AB, Uber Technologies, Inc.
- Telecommunications: Iliad, Vodafone Group
- Blockchain: Anchorage, Bison Trails, Coinbase, Inc., Xapo Holdings Limited
- Venture Capital: Andreessen Horowitz, Breakthrough Initiatives, Ribbit Capital, Thrive Capital, Union Square Ventures
- Nonprofit and multilateral organizations, and academic institutions: Creative Destruction Lab, Kiva, Mercy Corps, Women’s World Banking …
The Libra’s value is tied to a basket of bank deposits and short-term government securities for a slew of historically stable international currencies, including the dollar, pound, euro, Swiss franc and yen. The Libra Association maintains this basket of assets and can change the balance of its composition if necessary to offset major price fluctuations in any one foreign currency so that the value of a Libra stays consistent.
The name Libra comes from the word for a Roman unit of weight measure. It’s trying to invoke a sense of financial freedom by playing on the French stem “Lib,” meaning free.
The Libra Association is still hammering out the exact start value for the Libra, but it’s meant to be somewhere close to the value of a dollar, euro or pound so it’s easy to conceptualize. That way, a gallon of milk in the U.S. might cost 3 to 4 Libra, similar but not exactly the same as with dollars.
The idea is that you’ll cash in some money and keep a balance of Libra that you can spend at accepting merchants and online services. You’ll be able to trade in your local currency for Libra and vice versa through certain wallet apps, including Facebook’s Calibra, third-party wallet apps and local resellers like convenience or grocery stores where people already go to top-up their mobile data plan. https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/18/facebook-libra/
Here is something I saw today on the libra.org website:
A simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people.
Reinvent money. Transform the global economy. So people everywhere can live better lives. …
Moving money around the world should be as easy and cheap as sending a text message. No matter where you live, what you do, or how much you earn. https://libra.org/en-US/
Here is something from one of the ‘White Papers’ on the Libra I also accessed today. This one was titled The Libra Reserve:
What Is the Purpose of the Reserve?
Many cryptocurrencies today (e.g., Bitcoin and Ether) have no underlying assets to back them. As a result, speculation and investment have been primary use cases, as with a potential for substantial appreciation many people have acquired these coins hoping to sell them at a higher price later. As beliefs over the longterm value of these currencies and success of their networks fluctuate, so too have their prices, yielding at times massive swings in value.
To drive widespread adoption, Libra is designed to be a currency where any user will know that the value of a Libra today will be close to its value tomorrow and in the future. Just as consumers in Europe know the number of Euros it takes them to buy a coffee today will be similar to the number of Euros it will take them tomorrow, holders of Libra, too, can be confident the value of their coins today will be relatively stable across time. …
What are the actual assets that will be backing each Libra coin? The actual assets will be a collection of low-volatility assets, including bank deposits and government securities in currencies from stable and reputable central banks. As the value of Libra will be effectively linked to a basket of fiat currencies, from the point of view of any specific currency, there will be fluctuations in the value of Libra. The makeup of the reserve is designed to mitigate the likelihood and severity of these fluctuations, particularly in the negative direction (i.e., even in economic crises).
Basically, the Libra is supposed to be backed up by a basket of currencies (including the euro and the dollar) and is supposed to be free (or close to it) to buy and sell with it. It could have a negative impact on the value of the US dollar if it ends up being widely used outside the USA.
Of course, Facebook can push someone off its platform, which could make using the Libra difficult (depending on how Facebook would handle that).
Now, notice something from Forbes:
Facebook’s business model since its inception has been to harvest and monetize data. I see no reason to assume that this has changed. So when I find, buried in Libra’s whitepaper, two sentences that imply Facebook’s real aim in creating Libra is to set the standard for global digital identities, my hair stands on end. As Dave Birch, director of Consult Hyperion and an expert on digital identity, puts it:
There are no throwaway remarks in a Facebook white paper that has taken a year to put together. It’s in there for a reason. [Facebook] are actually going to try and fix the identity problem.
Dave seems fairly sanguine about Facebook’s intention. But I am not. We now know just how damaging Facebook’s data harvesting can be. If Facebook became the standard setter for digital identities, it could gain access to all personal data. And that is what it wants. Not control of finance, control of data. And if you think your personal data would be digitally secure from harvesting simply because Facebook said so, you are the biggest sucker in the world.
From a financial perspective, Libra seems fairly harmless. Even if all 2bn of Facebook’s users adopted Libra for some transactions, and all 90m of its small businesses used Libra for purchases and sales, it is not going to pose a major threat to the financial system, let alone replace sovereign currencies. But Libra is in reality a vehicle for bringing about Facebook’s wider aim of becoming the standard setter for digital identity. And that is a much, much bigger issue. Facebook is the last organization on earth that should have anything to do with digital identity or standards setting. https://www.forbes.com/sites/francescoppola/2019/06/30/the-real-threat-from-facebooks-libra-coin/#ccc877c1dc58
Facebook is an organization that has made various deals with governments all over the world. It has provided data on groups and individuals to governments and for-profit companies.
It has succumbed to various pressures for censorship from the European Union.
We are seeing signs in Europe and even in the USA of the use of economic pressures against those that government authorities have issues with. In the case of the USA, we have seen various ones ‘deplatformed’ from YouTube who were generating at least part of their living from that. Some have also been stopped from having a PayPal account which is one way payments and donations are made over the internet.
Facebook could act similarly related to its Libra.
In Europe, the EU has set up massive fining systems to motivate places like YouTube and Facebook to remove content the government considers to be inappropriate. What if the government wants someone’s finances affected?
Now while I am NOT saying that all that the EU wants to be removed should be allowed, what I am saying is that this is helping set up the road for 666 dominance in the future.
Also in Europe, it has announced the desire to form two agencies that will be looking into and/or enforcing various financial laws. One has been called the ‘European FBI” (see German leaders pushing for European military, European FBI, ‘Christian values,’ and 666).
Here is some information about another:
In a major, first-of-its-kind move, the European Union is setting up a European-wide prosecutor’s office that will have power to investigate and charge people for financial crimes committed against the EU.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office is expected to come into force next year or early in 2021. Akin to federal prosecutors in the United States, the new agency will consist of a central office in Luxembourg and satellite prosecutors’ offices in individual EU countries.
“Crimes involving EU funds are not a priority for national authorities, and that’s a problem,” said Carl Dolan, director of Transparency International EU, an anti-corruption Berlin-based watchdog group, in a telephone interview with Courthouse News. “There is a general perception that this is not anybody’s money, it comes from Brussels and therefore it doesn’t really matter what they do with the money.”
Though the EU prosecutors’ powers will be limited to going after financial crimes involving the EU’s financial interests, experts said this will be an improvement over assigning cases to national prosecutors. 01/16/19 https://www.courthousenews.com/%EF%BB%BFin-major-step-europe-sets-up-an-eu-prosecutors-office/
Facebook’s Libra would not be exempt from government oversight. Governments have a tendency to expand enforcement, the reach of enforcement and investigative agencies. That will happen in Europe.
When I first learned of this EU plan, after thinking about the ‘666’ prophecy, I immediately thought of the Spanish Inquisition as this seemed to me to be a step towards having a persecutor (of course, nowadays being called a prosecutor).
The Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:
The European Union is in the process of establishing the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.This is a major, first-of-its-kind move, with the EU setting up a European-wide prosecutor’s office that will have power to investigate and charge people for financial crimes committed against the EU. It looks like this type of office may end up persecuting those that do not have the mark of the Beast when they “buy or sell” as that will later be considered a financial crime in Europe. What does 666 mean? How has that name be calculated? How can we be certain that this is a prophecy for Europe and not Islam? Is the appointment of this new office of significant prophetic importance? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more by pointing to scriptures, news items, and historical accounts.
Here is a link to the sermonette video: EU Setting Up 666 Enforcer?
Now, here is the 666 prophecy:
15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (Revelation 13:15-18)
The above prophecy points to there being enforcers of the mark of the beast as well as for the control of buying and selling. We are also seeing things like electronic money, which did not exist a century ago, get more widespread acceptance. Electronic money will make 666’s enforcement possible.
And we see from Bible prophecy that 666’s plan will involve both economic and murderous persecution.
Now, it is true that Revelation 13 has to do with Europe, but what is happening in the USA with its big tech and banking rules is helping ‘pave the way’ for 666.
Consider further that the data that Facebook would be collecting IF the Libra became successful, would be a tempting data target for governments–including totalitarian ones.
Economic blackmail and other forms of financial persecution have been used throughout history against many, including true Christians (see Persecutions by Church and State).
The road to doing this in the future is being established right now.
Facebook seems to be unwittingly being involved in setting up data collection that will help 666 enforcement.
Some items of possibly related interest may include:
Two Horned Beast of Revelation and 666 Who is 666? This article explains how the COG views this, and compares this to Ellen White. Here is a link to a prophetic video Six Financial Steps Leading to 666?
The Mark of Antichrist What is the mark of Antichrist? What have various ones claimed? Here is a link to a related sermon What is the ‘Mark of Antichrist’?
Mark of the Beast What is the mark of the Beast? Who is the Beast? What have various ones claimed the mark is? What is the ‘Mark of the Beast’?
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is a link to a video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?
European Technology and the Beast of Revelation Will the coming European Beast power would use and develop technology that will result in the taking over of the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies? Is this possible? What does the Bible teach? Here is a related YouTube video: Military Technology and the Beast of Revelation.
Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations? Some claim that these passages refer to a gathering of 10 currently existing nations together, while one group teaches that this is referring to 11 nations getting together. Is that what Revelation 17:12-13 refers to? The ramifications of misunderstanding this are enormous.
WTO/TTIP and the Babylonian Beast Will international trade agreements like WTO/TTIP/CETA lead to the fulfillment of end time prophecies concerning the Babylonian Beast power that the Book of Revelation warns against? What does the Bible teach? A related video would be WTO Trade Deal and the Rise of the European Beast Power.
Persecutions by Church and State This article documents some that have occurred against those associated with the COGs and some prophesied to occur. Will those with the cross be the persecutors or the persecuted–this article has the shocking answer. There is also a YouTube video sermon you can watch: The Coming Persecution of the Church. Here is information in the Spanish language: Persecuciones de la Iglesia y el Estado.
The Spanish Inquisition and Early Protestant Persecutions Was the Church of Rome really responsible for this? What happened? A video of related interest is titled: The Past and Future Inquisition.
Internet Control, Famine of the Word, and 666 On October 1, 2016, the USA officially relinquished control over the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), despite objections from certain political leaders and former military officials. Might this lead to more censorship, imposition on non-biblical ‘community standards,’ and loss of first amendment rights? Could this transfer of control have any prophetic ramifications? Will the internet be a factor in the ‘short work’ of Romans 9:28 and the coming ‘famine of the word’ that the Prophet Amos warned about? Will internet control be something that the 666 power will have? Dr. Thiel addresses these matters and more in this video.
Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word What is the ‘short work’ of Romans 9:28? Who is preparing for it? Here is a link to a related video sermon titled: The Short Work.
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be Barack Obama and the State of the Apocalypse.
Trade Wars: Are COG warnings coming to pass? Trade issues, tariffs, and talk of trade wars are in the news. Can trade wars lead to World War III like they did to World War II? Are the events going on with the USA, UK, Asia, and Europe consistent with warnings published by the true Church of God (COG) over the past several years and decades? Do Germany and China hope to take advantage of trade frictions involving the Trump Administration and the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement? What about Mexico and South America? Does the Bible teach that Europe will become a major trading power? Will the final European Babylonian trading power be destroyed? In this video, Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.
The End of US Dollar Dominance Is the USA losing its economic status? What about the petro-gold-yuan? A related video is also available: US Dollar being challenged by Gold-Petro-Yuan.
USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses Can you point to scriptures, like Daniel 11:39, that point to the USA in the 21st century? This article does. A related sermon is titled: Do these 7 prophesies point to the end of the USA?
Who is the King of the West? Why is there no Final End-Time King of the West in Bible Prophecy? Is the United States the King of the West? Here is a version in the Spanish language: ¿Quién es el Rey del Occidente? ¿Por qué no hay un Rey del Occidente en la profecía del tiempo del fin? A related sermon is also available: The Bible, the USA, and the King of the West.
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States? In the Spanish language check out ¿Quién es el Rey del Norte? Here is a link to a video titled: The Future King of the North.
The Great Monarch: Biblical and Catholic Prophecies Is the ‘Great Monarch’ of Catholic prophecies endorsed or condemned by the Bible? Two sermons of related interest are also available: Great Monarch: Messiah or False Christ? and Great Monarch in 50+ Beast Prophecies.
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