Open letter to Zuckerberg, asking Libra to be backed by gold
Writing open letters to Mark Zuckerberg seems to be turning into a trend these days. Just a few weeks ago it was Chris Hughes, the co-founder of Facebook; and now it is Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media, who wrote an open letter advising Mark to back Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra with gold.
This is a move already taken in the UAE in 2017, with the launch of OneGram, a sharia compliant cryptocurrency backed by a gram of gold.
In his open letter, Steve emphasises the potential of Libra to become one of the greatest inventions in the world, which could one day “replace the U.S. dollar as the global currency.”
He argues that the value of Libra should be backed by gold to provide a “truly stable cryptocurrency” instead of a basket of currencies. This would make it the “most desirable medium of exchange around the globe,” since it can be used in day-to-day transactions, as well as in long-term investing; as well as if it wants to live up to the potential of replacing the fiat currency one day.
“For a variety of reasons gold holds its intrinsic value better than anything else. It’s like a measuring rod. It no more restricts the money supply than the 12 inches in a foot restricts the size of a building you might wish to construct. All it means is that the Libra will have what no other currency has today: a fixed value.”Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media,
Forbes also asked Zuckerberg to change the name of Libra to “Mark” due to the negative historic connotations of the word. We don’t believe this would have any sway over Zuckerberg who must have invested branding intelligence in naming the cryptocurrency. Moreover, the heat he is facing over “unregulated power” will only worsen the image of narcissism if he were to name the currency after his own first name.
Will Zuckerberg respond to Forbes like it did to Hughes?
