A collection about all things Diem (formerly Libra), Move & Facebook Zuckerbucks - Let's reinvent money with fast and cheap world-wide transfers; let's bank the 1.7 billion unbanked, ...
Moving money around the world should be as easy and cheap as sending a text message (or a photo).
Libra Shrugged: How Facebook Tried to Take Over the Money
by David Gerard, November 2020, 182 Pages --
Introduction: Taking over the money ++
A user's guide to Libra ++
The genesis of Libra: Beller's blockchain ++
To launch a Libra: Let’s start a crypto ++
Bitcoin: why Libra is like this ++
The Libra White Papers ++
Banking the unbanked ++
The Libra Reserve plan and economic stability ++
Libra, privacy and your digital identity ++
The regulators recoil in horror ++
David Marcus before the US House and Senate ++
July to September 2019: Libra runs the gauntlet ++
October 2019: Libra's bad month ++
Mark Zuckerberg before the US House ++
November 2019: The comedown ++
Central bank digital currencies ++
Epilogue: Libra 2.0: not dead yet ++
Appendix: 2010–2013: The rise and fall of Facebook Credits
[Libra is now Diem! New chiefs hired for launch in 2021!], Diem (formerly Libra Association) Press Release, December 1, 2020 -- The Libra Association announces the adoption of a new name and the recruitment of key [chief] executives, reinforcing [with smoke and mirrors] its organizational independence [from Facebook].
Q: Why the name change?
A: "The original [Libra] name was tied to an early iteration of the project that received a difficult reception from regulators. We have dramatically changed that proposition [humbly starting with printing (private) Diem Dollars (≋USD) only on an invite-only (private) network.", says Stuart Levey, Chief of Diem (formerly Libra) Association
Facebook's Libra may launch January 2021, with US dollars only - what this means - by David Gerard, November 2020 -- There will only be a US dollar token running on the network — no EUR or GBP, no synthetic Libra currency; Facebook's Novi (formerly Calibra) wallet is ready as a product, to be released in the US and some Latin American countries - "high-volume remittance corridors"; no date as yet, though Facebook hopes for January 2021
web: diem.com (formerly libra.org
Q: Why is it called Libra? A: The Libra name was inspired by (1) Libra the Roman unit of weight measure, which was eventually used to mint coins. (2) Libra the astrological symbol is the balance of justice, and (3) Libra phonetically sounds like libre, which is French for free or freedom. The Libra name is a combination of money, justice, and freedom.
Q: Why is it called Diem? A: Diem stems from the famous latin phrase 'Carpe Diem' translating to 'Enjoy the present, make the most of today', a common mistranslation is 'Seize the Day' (according to Carpe diem @ Wiktionary).
Carpe is the second-person singular present active imperative of carpō "pick or pluck" used by Horace to mean "enjoy, seize, use, make use of". Diem is the accusative of dies "day". A more literal translation of carpe diem would thus be "pluck the day as it is ripe" - that is, enjoy the moment. It has been argued by various authors that this interpretation is closer to Horace's original meaning
The Official (Historic) Libra White Paper (V1.0), PDF Download (~600k, 12 Pages)
Libra's mission is to enable a simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people.
This document outlines our plans for a new decentralized blockchain, a low-volatility cryptocurrency, and a contract platform that together aim to create a new opportunity for responsible financial services innovation.
Currency / Money
Libra's goal: A stable cryptocurrency built on a secure and stable open-source blockchain, backed by a reserve of real assets, and governed by an independent association.
(Source: Libra White Paper (V1.0))
Libra is a stable coin backed by a basket of (four?) currencies (USD, EURO, GBP, JPY), and US Treasury securities in an attempt to avoid volatility (and speculation). Facebook has announced that each of the (100?) partners will stake an initial US$10 million, so Libra is backed by US$1 billion of solid currency, on the day it opens.
(Source: Libra (cryptocurrency) @ Wikipedia)
Q: What's a Microlibra? What's the smallest Libra subunit?
A: Libra can be broken into 1 million smaller units, that is, 0.000001 Libra (six digits). The official name for the smallest 0.000001 Libra unit is Microlibra.
Libra Rerseve
- The Official (Historic) Libra Reserve White Paper (V1.0), PDF Download (~40k, 4 Pages)
Q: What are the actual assets that will be backing each Libra coin? A: 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). To that end, the above basket has been structured with capital preservation and liquidity in mind. On the capital preservation point, the association will only invest in debt from stable governments with low default probability that are unlikely to experience high inflation. In addition, the reserve has been diversified by selecting multiple governments, rather than just one, to further reduce the potential impact of such events. In terms of liquidity, the association plans to rely on short-dated securities issued by these governments, that are all traded in liquid markets that regularly accommodate daily trading volume in the tens or even hundreds of billions. This allows the size of the reserve to be easily adjusted as the number of Libra in circulation expands or contracts.
Mint & Burn Libras
The Libra Association is the only party able to create (mint) and destroy (burn) Libra. Coins are only minted when authorized resellers have purchased those coins from the association with real assets to fully back the new coins. Coins are only burned when the authorized resellers sell Libra coin to the association in exchange for the underlying assets. Since authorized resellers will always be able to sell Libra coins to the reserve at a price equal to the value of the basket, the Libra Reserve acts as a "buyer of last resort."
(Source: Libra White Paper (V1.0))
Digital Identity (Id)
Open Identity (Id) Standard
An additional goal of the Libra association is to develop and promote an open identity standard. We believe that decentralized and portable digital identity is a prerequisite to financial inclusion and competition.
(Source: Libra White Paper (V1.0))
The Official (Historic) Libra White Paper (V2.0), PDF Download (~1,300k, 29 Pages)
Note to readers: The first Libra Association white paper was published in June 2019. This new Libra Association white paper, published in April 2020, is intended to be a stand-alone update regarding the plans of the Libra Association. Additionally, supporting technical papers also published in June 2019 have been edited or retired.
(Source: Libra White Paper (V2.0))
Q: What's changed?
A: "Most notable evolutions are:
a) the creation of single currency stablecoins, e.g. ≋USD, ≋EUR, ≋GBP, in addition to Libra Coin (≋LBR), which will now be a Move blockchain contract "stitching" together fixed nominal weights of underlying stablecoins.
b) a comprehensive network-level system around anti-money laundering (AML), combatting the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), and sanctions enforcement.
c) replacing the originally planned transition to a permissionless [public] form of [blockchain] governance to a market-driven open and competitive [private invite-only] network [managed by Facebook].
d) building stronger protections into the design of the Libra Reserve to protect consumers, even in the most adverse [bank run can-I-get-my-money-back] situations.",
Libra is Now Diem!
Note to Readers: On December 1, 2020, the Libra Association was renamed to Diem Association. This white paper, originally published by the Libra Association in June 2019 and then re-issued as a stand-alone update in April 2020, replaces previous versions published by the Association.
(Source: Diem White Paper)
Official Learn Diem Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Answers:
Q: What is the Diem payment system?
The Diem payment system incorporates three aspects that work together to create a financial system:
- A secure, scalable, and reliable blockchain as the backbone of the payment system;
- Diem Coins that are backed by a reserve of assets made up of cash or cash equivalents and very short-term government securities; and
- Governance by the Diem Association and its subsidiary Diem Networks, tasked with developing and operating the payment system.
Q: What are Diem Coins?
Diem Coins are single-currency stablecoins (e.g., ≋USD, ≋EUR, and ≋GBP) and a multi-currency coin (≋XDM) supported on the Diem payment system.
Q: What is a Diem single-currency stablecoin?
A: Diem single-currency stablecoin (e.g., ≋USD, ≋EUR, and ≋GBP) is a (private) crypto currency that has a 1:1 face value to a (public) national currency (USD, EUR, and GBP)). Diem single-currency stablecoins will be fully backed by the Diem Reserve, consisting of cash or cash equivalents and very short-term government securities denominated in the same national currency (USD, EUR, and GBP) as the stablecoins.
Q: What is a Diem multi-currency coin (≋XDM)?
A: ≋XDM is a (private) world crypto currency composed of the major single-currency stablecoins (e.g., ≋USD, ≋EUR, and ≋GBP) available on the Diem network for use in world-wide cross-border settlements or as an alternative (private) currency replacing the unstable, high-inflation (public) national currency leading to ("Diem-ization" instead of "Dollar-ization") for people and businesses in almost all countries that will never have a single-currency stablecoin on the Diem network.
Q: How can I get Diem Coins?
A: We expect most users will be able to buy Diem Coins through exchanges that list Diem Coins or through the applications that will be built on the Diem Blockchain, including digital wallets and other financial products and services.
Q: How can I use Diem Coins?
A: Diem Coin holders can use Diem Coins for everyday use to pay for goods and services (if big if accepted by the seller), send Diem Coins to other users, or cash out the Diem Coins back into the local (public) national currency.
Diem (formerly Libra) Association, Switzerland, Quai de l'Ile 13, Gèneve 1204.
The Diem (formerly Libra) Association is a [self-proclaimed] independent membership organization [setup, financed and managed by Facebook], headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
- Diem Assocciation Org Page -
diem.com/association - Diem Assocciation Updates - twitter:
@DiemAssociation
What's News?
- On December 1, 2020, the Libra Association was renamed to Diem Association.
Official Learn Diem Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Answers:
Q: What is the purpose of the Diem Association?
The Association's purpose is to govern the Diem network and Diem Reserve; oversee the operation and evolution of the Diem payment system; help [Facebook] building services on top of the Diem Blockchain in a safe and compliant manner; and establish grant-making for banking the 1.7 billion unbanked.
Are We Decentralized Yet?
Libra V1.0 - Anno June 2019
The Official (Historic) Libra Roadmap White Paper from Permissioned (Members-Only) to Permissionless (Public) Blockchain, PDF Download (~50k, 5 Pages)
We believe that for the Libra network to achieve its full potential, it needs to be permissionless. As a result, one of the association's directives will be to work with the community to research and implement this transition, which will begin within five years of the public launch of the Libra Blockchain and ecosystem.
Libra V2.0 Update - Nine Month Later in April 2020
"Most notable evolutions are: ... replacing the originally planned transition to a permissionless [public] form of [blockchain] governance to a market-driven open and competitive [private invite-only] network [managed by Facebook].", says David Marcus (Head of Novi @ Facebook Financial)
The Diem Blockchain is open source. We're working to build a trusted and innovative financial network that empowers people and businesses around the world.
github: diemassociation (formerly libra)
- Diem (formerly Libra) Core / Testnet Client, github: (formerly
libra/libra)
Diem Developer Website HQ - developers.diem.com
Community
- Diem Discussion Forum -
community.diem.com(formerlycommunity.libra.org - Diem Dev / Tech Updates - twitter:
@diemdevelopers(formerly@libradev - Diem Dev / Tech Blog -
developers.diem.com/blog(formerlydevelopers.libra.org/blog
What's News?
"The Diem Developers website is live with a bundle of goodness. Featuring a reference wallet, tools for merchants, Move components, and more!", says David Marcus, Facebook, Head of Novi (formerly Head of Calibra), December 1, 2020
From the Diem Forum post "Libra is now Diem":
New Developer Site - We've restructured our developer website, written in-depth tutorials, and added tons of new documentation. Check out the new Diem Documentation site
developers.diem.comReference Projects - We've built two new interactive projects that are now ready to test:
Reference Wallet (
developers.diem.com/reference-wallet) - Set up an account, transfer funds in and out of the wallet, and send or request coins - all running fully on the testnet.Reference Merchant (
developers.diem.com/docs/merchant/try-demo-merchant) - Experience Diem in action with a demo storefront and purchasing flows, including integration with the reference wallet.Move Documentation - We built our blockchain with Move, a new Rust-based language with resource scarcity and improved asset protections. And while it was created for Libra/Diem, we always hoped Move would be a resource for all blockchain developers, regardless of the project.
We're excited to announce the long-awaited official Move documentation, publicly available for the first time
developers.diem.com/docs/move/overview.
- The Official Diem (formerly Libra) Blockchain / Protocol White Paper, PDF Download (~400k, 29 Pages)
Abstract: The Diem Blockchain is a decentralized, programmable database designed to support a low-volatility cryptocurrency that will have the ability to serve as an efficient medium of exchange for billions of people around the world. We present a proposal for the Diem protocol, which implements the Diem Blockchain and aims to create a financial infrastructure that can foster innovation, lower barriers to entry, and improve access to financial services. To validate the design of the Diem protocol, we have built an open-source prototype implementation - Diem Core - in anticipation of a global collaborative effort to advance this new ecosystem.
The Diem protocol allows a set of replicas - referred to as validators - from different authorities to jointly maintain a database of programmable resources. These resources are owned by different user accounts authenticated by public key cryptography and adhere to custom rules specified by the developers of these resources. Validators process transactions and interact with each other to reach consensus on the state of the database. Transactions are based on predefined and, in future versions, user-defined contracts in a new programming language called Move.
We use Move to define the core mechanisms of the blockchain, such as the currency and validator membership. These core mechanisms enable the creation of a unique governance mechanism that builds on the stability and reputation of existing institutions in the early days but transitions to a fully open system over time.
The (Secure) Contract-Oriented Programming Language for Digital (Blockchain) Resources / Assets
The Official Move: A Language With Programmable Resources White Paper, PDF Download (~200k, 26 Pages)
Abstract: We present Move, a safe and flexible programming language for the Diem Blockchain. Move is an executable bytecode language used to implement custom transactions and contracts. The key feature of Move is the ability to define custom resource types with semantics inspired by linear logic: a resource can never be copied or implicitly discarded, only moved between program storage locations. These safety guarantees are enforced statically by Move's type system. Despite these special protections, resources are ordinary program values - they can be stored in data structures, passed as arguments to procedures, and so on. First-class resources are a very general concept that programmers can use not only to implement safe digital assets but also to write correct business logic for wrapping assets and enforcing access control policies. The safety and expressivity of Move have enabled us to implement significant parts of the Diem protocol in Move, including Diem coin, transaction processing, and validator management.
Q: What's Move? A: A statically-typed programming language derived from Rust, compiled to bytecode.
Update December 2020 - Official Move Documention Goes Live
Welcome to Move, a next generation language for secure, sandboxed, and formally verified programming. Its first use case is for the Diem blockchain, where Move provides the foundation for its implementation. Move allows developers to write programs that flexibly manage and transfer assets, while providing the security and protections against attacks on those assets. However, Move has been developed with use cases in mind outside a blockchain context as well.
Move takes its cue from Rust by using resource types with move (hence the name) semantics as an explicit representation of digital assets, such as currency.
[...]
Move has all of the syntax and semantics you would expect from a first-class programming language. However, there is an entire architecture dedicated to creating, using, and executing code based on Move. The diagram below shows the architecture of Move as it pertains to the Diem Payment Network, from using the source language to script execution.
(Source: Move Introduction @ Diem Developers)
Examples
p2p_payment.mvir - Example of a peer-to-peer transaction script:
// Simple peer-peer payment example.
// Use LibraAccount module published on the blockchain at account address
// 0x0...0 (with 64 zeroes). 0x0 is shorthand that the intermediate representation (IR) pads out to
// 256 bits (64 digits) by adding leading zeroes.
import 0x0.LibraAccount;
import 0x0.LibraCoin;
main(payee: address, amount: u64) {
// The bytecode (and consequently, the intermediate representation (IR)) has typed locals. The scope of
// each local is the entire procedure. All local variable declarations must
// be at the beginning of the procedure. Declaration and initialization of
// variables are separate operations, but the bytecode verifier will prevent
// any attempt to use an uninitialized variable.
let coin: R#LibraCoin.T;
// The R# part of the type above is one of two *kind annotation* R# and V#
// (shorthand for "Resource" and "unrestricted Value"). These annotations
// must match the kind of the type declaration (e.g., does the LibraCoin
// module declare `resource T` or `struct T`?).
// Acquire a LibraCoin.T resource with value `amount` from the sender's
// account. This will fail if the sender's balance is less than `amount`.
coin = LibraAccount.withdraw_from_sender(move(amount));
// Move the LibraCoin.T resource into the account of `payee`. If there is no
// account at the address `payee`, this step will fail
LibraAccount.deposit(move(payee), move(coin));
// Every procedure must end in a `return`. The IR compiler is very literal:
// it directly translates the source it is given. It will not do fancy
// things like inserting missing `return`s.
return;
}
More contract samples (from the Move Contract Playground):
import 0x0.LibraAccount;
import 0x0.LibraCoin;
main(payee: address, amount: u64) {
LibraAccount.mint_to_address(move(payee), move(amount));
return;
}
import 0x0.LibraAccount;
main (payee: address, amount: u64) {
LibraAccount.pay_from_sender(move(payee), move(amount));
return;
}
import 0x0.LibraAccount;
main() {
let addr: address;
let struct1_original_balance: u64;
addr = get_txn_sender();
struct1_original_balance = LibraAccount.balance(copy(addr));
assert(copy(struct1_original_balance) > 10, 77);
return;
}
main() {
let a1: address;
let a2: address;
let a3: address;
let a4: address;
let a5: address;
let a6: address;
let a7: address;
let a8: address;
let a9: address;
a1 = 0x1;
a2 = 0x01;
a3 = 0x0001;
a4 = 0x00000001;
a5 = 0x0000000000000001;
a6 = 0x00000000000000000000000000000001;
a7 = 0x000000000000000000000000000000001;
a8 = 0x000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001;
a9 = 0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001;
assert(copy(a1) == copy(a2), 42);
assert(copy(a2) == copy(a3), 43);
assert(copy(a3) == copy(a4), 44);
assert(copy(a4) == copy(a5), 45);
assert(copy(a5) == copy(a6), 46);
assert(copy(a6) == copy(a7), 47);
assert(copy(a7) == copy(a8), 48);
assert(copy(a8) == copy(a9), 49);
return;
}
import 0x0.LibraAccount;
import 0x0.LibraCoin;
main() {
let addr: address;
let account_exists: bool;
let ten_coins: R#LibraCoin.T;
let account_exists_now: bool;
addr = 0x0111111111111111111111111111111111111011111111111111111111111110;
account_exists = LibraAccount.exists(copy(addr));
assert(!move(account_exists), 83);
ten_coins = LibraAccount.withdraw_from_sender(10);
create_account(copy(addr));
LibraAccount.deposit(copy(addr), move(ten_coins));
account_exists_now = LibraAccount.exists(copy(addr));
assert(move(account_exists_now), 84);
return;
}
Inside Diem Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) and the HotStuff Protocol - The Truth Machine with State Replication
- The Official Libra Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT): State Machine Replication in the Blockchain White Paper, PDF Download (~300k, 41 Pages)
Abstract: This report presents DiemBFT, a robust and efficient state machine replication system designed for the Diem Blockchain. DiemBFT is based on HotStuff, a recent protocol that leverages several decades of scientific advances in Byzantine fault tolerance (BFT) and achieves the strong scalability and security properties required by internet settings. DiemBFT further refines the HotStuff protocol to introduce explicit liveness mechanisms and provides a concrete latency analysis. To drive the integration with the Diem Blockchain, this document provides specifications extracted from a fully-functional simulator. These specifications include state replication interfaces and a communication framework for data transfer and state synchronization among participants. Finally, this report provides a formal safety proof that induces criteria to detect misbehavior of BFT nodes, coupled with a simple reward and punishment mechanism.
- What is HotStuff and why is it a big deal by Cypherium, June 18, 2019
- What is the difference between Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT), Tendermint, Scalable Byzantine Fault Tolerance (SBFT) and HotStuff? by Ittai Abraham, June 23, 2019
- Facebook's proposed currency is technically sound, but should you trust it? by Dapper Labs, June 21, 2019
- On LibraBFT's use of broadcasts by Sam Moelius (Trail of Bits), July 12, 2019
HotStuff
- HotStuff: Three-chain Rules! by Dahlia Malkhi, October 24, 2018 - Most protocols contain quadratic voting steps. When Byzantine consensus protocols were originally conceived, a typical target system size was n=4 or n=7, tolerating one or two faults. But scaling Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) consensus to n=2000 means that even on a good day, when communication is timely and a handful of failures occurs, quadratic steps require 4,000,000 messages. A cascade of failures might bring the communication complexity to whopping 8,000,000,000 (!) transmissions for a single consensus decision...
- HotStuff: Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) Consensus with Linearity and Responsiveness Whitepaper, PDF Download (~800k, 10 Pages) by Maofan Yin, Dahlia Malkhi, Michael K. Reiter, Guy Golan Gueta, Ittai Abraham - a leader-based Byzantine fault-tolerant replication protocol for the partially synchronous model. Once network communication becomes synchronous, HotStuff enables a correct leader to drive the protocol to consensus at the pace of actual (vs. maximum) network delay - a property called responsiveness - and with communication complexity that is linear in the number of replicas. To our knowledge, HotStuff is the first partially synchronous BFT replication protocol exhibiting these combined properties. Its simplicity enables it to be further pipelined and simplified into a practical, concise protocol for building large-scale replication services.
Transactions, Transactions, Transactions
- Libra Testnet Explorer, (Source) by Gal Diskin - incl. faucet to mint your own free (test) libra tokens / money
- Libra Block (Testnet Explorer), (Source Front-End), (Source Back-End)
- Libra Vista (Testnet Explorer)
- Libranaut (Testnet Explorer)
- Libratics (Testnet Explorer)
- iLibraExplorer
Official
Historic
Calibra (web: calibra.com
Rebranded in May 2020
Welcome to Novi (formerly Calibra) by David Marcus, Facebook, Head of Novi (formerly Head of Calibra), May 26, 2020 -- With Novi, sending money will be as easy as sending a message. You'll be able to use Novi as a stand-alone app, as well as in Messenger and WhatsApp. There will be no hidden charges to add, send, receive or withdraw money and your transfers will arrive instantly. All Novi customers will be verified using government-issued ID, and fraud protections will be built in throughout the app.
Q: Why the name change? A: "People were confusing Libra [the "pseudo-independent" payment network - "blockchain"] and Calibra [the official Facebook Libra wallet] all the time", says David Marcus.
Novi (web: novi.com, twitter: @novi) - Facebook's official wallet for Libra from Facebook Financial (F2) that also
incl. Facebook Pay, WhatsApp Pay, among all things payments.
- Novis's Blockchain and Cryptoeconomics Team Page @ Facebook Research includes publications / papers such as:
- FastPay: High-Performance Byzantine Fault Tolerant Settlement by Mathieu Baudet, George Danezis, Alberto Sonnino, November 2020
- Winkle: Foiling Long-Range Attacks in Proof-of-Stake Systems by Sarah Azouvi, George Danezis, Valeria Nikolaenko, October 2020
- Taming the many EdDSAs by Kostas Chalkias, François Garillot, Valeria Nikolaenko, October 2020
- The Move Prover by Emma Zhong, Kevin Cheang, Shaz Qadeer, Wolfgang Grieskamp, Sam Blackshear, Junkil Park, Yoni Zohar, Clark Barrett, David Dill, October 2020
- and many more
Others
Articles & Live Demos
- The First Libra Wallet Proof-of-Concept (POC) - Building your own Wallet and APIs by Nattapon Nimakul, June 23, 2019
- Libra Paper Wallet (Source) by Libra Startup; generate a new Libra cryptocurrency wallet address, its QR code, and the recovery seed - 24 words
JavaScript
- Libra Core by Perfect Makanju - a javascript library client that can be used to interact with libra nodes. Coded in typescript
- Libra gRPC by Fabien - a lightweight JavaScript library for Libra
- Libra API by Fabien - a REST API for Libra blockchain
- Libra Web by Paul C. (Band Protocol) - a javascript client for Libra blockchain. The library allows javascript program to interact with Libra nodes with protobuf message through grpc web. It works in both browser and node.js environments
Python
- PyLibra by Sorawit Suriyakarn (Band Protocol) - a python client for Libra blockchain. The library allows Python program to interact with Libra nodes with protobuf message through grpc
- Libra gRPC by Yehor Smoliakov - a gRPC client for Libra in Python
Ruby
- Libra Client by Yuan - a client library that lets you interact with Libra nodes with protobuf message through gRPC
Go
- Libra Go Client by Ibraheem Bello - a go client for interacting with Libra blockchain
- Libra Go SDK by Philipp Gillé - a go dev kit for Libra
- Libra Example by Philip Kannegaard Hayes - example Libra Go client
- go-libra by the729 - a Libra go client library with crypto verifications
Java Libraries
- Libraj by Wen Shen Jun - a java library client that can be used to interact with libra nodes
- Jlibra by Sauli Ketola - a Java library for interacting with the Libra blockchain.
CryptoZombies (Libra/Move Edition) Upcoming! - learn Libra blockchain contract programming by coding your own game using the Move programming language; completely free and open source
- Libra Basics Lesson 1 Live - Becoming a Shop Owner -- In this first lesson, you'll learn how to interact with the Libra testnet blockchain using the command line interface (CLI). This perfectly simulates how you can interact with the REAL libra testnet today. Later, we'll show you how to install it yourself.
MoveCastle - learn Libra blockchain contract programming by coding your own game using the Move programming language; by Blockchain Lab of Beijing Normal University and White Matrix Corporation
- Help & Discussion in Testnet Channel / Category @ Diem Discussion Forum
- Connecting to Libra TestNet on Windows with the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) by Ibraheem Kolawole Bello, June 19th, 2019
Historic
An open platform for financial inclusion. Not run by Facebook.
web: openlibra.ioopen-libra
build on Libra's strengths but extend it where needed. OpenLibra aims to be technically (Move Language) and financially compatible (Libra coin), embracing what is powerful, but also replacing what's concerning in a non-adversarial way.
- June 18th, 2019 - Libra Testnet Live and Open Source Libra Client (Core) Code
What's upcoming? See the Libra Core Roadmap
Did you know? David Marcus is the public face of Facebook's Libra - but Morgan Beller started the cryptocurrency effort in 2017, before Marcus was even at Facebook. (Source: Meet Morgan Beller, the 26-year-old woman behind Facebook's plan to make its own currency, by Salvador Rodriguez (CNBC), July 20, 2019)
Official
- Five months and growing strong: the Libra project by Michael Engle (Libra Association), Nov 15, 2019
- Why building a new protocol for money is the only way to truly change the game for people by David Marcus (Libra / Calibra Project Chief / Head), July 25, 2019
- Libra Testimony @ US Senate, Committee on Banking, PDF Download (~100k, 7 Pages) by David Marcus (Libra / Calibra Project Chief / Head), July 16, 2019
- Libra, 2 weeks in by David Marcus (Libra / Calibra Project Chief / Head), July 3, 2019
- Libra: The Path Forward by Libra Engineering Team, June 18, 2019 - Today we are announcing the Libra testnet, a live demonstration of an early prototype of the technology behind Libra - a simple global currency and financial infrastructure that can empower billions of people...
- Coming in 2020: Calibra - A New Digital Wallet for a New Digital Currency by Facebook Newsroom, June 18, 2019
Pro
- (Christian Catalini) Libra co-creator (and Calibra Head Economist) explains, defends Facebook's cryptocurrency by Beth Stackpole, MIT Sloan Business School Newsletter, Nov 13, 2019
Neutral
- First Look: Libra by Binance Research, June 18th 2019 - An in-depth review of Facebook's long-anticipated entry into cryptocurrency
- Libra: Understanding Facebook's Digital Currency by Coogan Brennan (ConsenSys), Sept 2019 - 21-page guide booklet (free PDF download; email registration required)
Regulation, Regulation, Regulation
There's a bipartisan bill in US Congress to firmly rule that managed stablecoins - they mean Libra - are securities. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) and Lance Gooden (R-TX) are pretty sure that Libra-like tokens would be securities already - it was immediately obvious that this would constitute an exchange-traded fund or synthetic foreign-exchange derivative - but they want to nail it down. Whether this bill has legs depends ... (via David Gerard, Nov 22, 2019 - News: Libra and stablecoins and [the US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network] (FinCEN))
- Uncle Sam weighs Libra by Ben Munster (Decrypt), July 16, 2019 - Facebook's David Marcus spoke before [the US] Congress on the company's upcoming pseudo-bank, Libra. The oldies on Capitol Hill [in Washington] could barely conceal their contempt...
- [US] Fed[eral] [Reserve] chief [Jerome Powell] calls for Facebook to halt Libra project until concerns addressed, July 10, 2019, Reuters
Scams, Scams, Scams - The Art of the Steal
- Facebook's Libra currency spawns a wave of fakes, including on Facebook itself by Drew Harwell, Tony Romm and Cat Zakrzewski (Washington Post), July 22, 2019 - Roughly a dozen fake accounts, pages and groups scattered across Facebook and its photo-sharing app Instagram present themselves as official hubs for the digital currency, in some cases offering to sell Libra at a discount if viewers visit potentially fraudulent, third-party websites...
Skeptic / Critical Thinking
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Facebook Libra is Architecturally Unsound by Stephen Diehl, November 2019 - Libra's byzantine tolerance on a permissioned network is an incoherent design; Libra has no transaction privacy; Libra HotStuff BFT is not capable of achieving the throughput necessary for a payment rail; Libra's Move language is not sound; Libra's cryptography engineering is unsound; Libra has no capacity for consumer protection mechanisms. Answer: Factual inaccuracies of "Facebook Libra is Architecturally Unsound" by Tony Arcieri
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Thoughts on Facebook's Libra Coin by Preston Byrne, July 17, 2019 - Permissioned blockchains: where it all began...
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Why Facebook's Libra currency gets the thumbs down by Joseph Stiglitz, July 2, 2019 - Facebook has earned a level of distrust that took the banking sector much longer to achieve. Time and again, Facebook's leaders, faced with a choice between money and honouring their promises, have grabbed the money. And nothing could be more about money than creating a new currency. Only a fool would trust Facebook with his or her financial wellbeing. But maybe that's the point: with so much personal data on some 2.4bn monthly active users, who knows better than Facebook just how many suckers are born every minute?
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The Real Threat From Facebook's Libra Coin by Frances Coppola, June 30, 2019 - Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency is generating an immense amount of hype. Some hail it as the beginning of the end of sovereign currencies. Others believe it will draw people into the cryptocurrency world, leading them inexorably to place their faith in the One True Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin...
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Facebook's New Currency Has Big Claims and Bad Ideas - Libra is an ideological project, not a practical one by David Gerard (Foreign Policy), June 24, 2019 - Libra has certainly demonstrated one of the main characteristics of blockchain projects - grandiose claims and egregious nonsense...
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Facebook's Libra Must Be Stopped by Katharian Pistor (Project Syndicate), June 20, 2019 - Facebook has now unveiled a cryptocurrency and payment system that could take down the entire global economy. Governments must intervene before a company that "moves fast and breaks things" ends up breaking everything...
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Facebook's Cryptocurrency: Stop It Before It Starts by Nicholas Weaver, June 19, 2019 - The [Libra] coin is really a Facebook project. It is not live yet, giving governments the opportunity to kill this project before it gets off the ground and gives rise to cybercriminals who couldn't capitalize on existing cryptocurrencies. In particular, the [Internal Revenue Service] IRS and [the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes and Enforcement Network] FinCEN should take action now...
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FacebookCoin is being announced on Tuesday - and we still don't know why it's a crypto by David Gerard, June 15, 2019 - FacebookCoin is being announced on Tuesday! It's called Libra, and Facebook are apparently stressing very hard that everyone should call it Libra, and not Facebook-anything. And definitely not ZuckerBucks...
A curated list of awesome lists
- Awesome Libra Blockchain by Copperbits
- Awesome Libra by LearnDapp
- Awesome Libra by Methuz Kaewsaikao
- #awesome-libra Topic @ GitHub
More curated lists or dashboards
Historic
- Librazilla (web:
librazilla.com
License
The list is dedicated to the public domain. Use it as you please with no restrictions whatsoever.