The developers of Facebook’s Libra token are pressing ahead with the project despite the furor kicked up by governments and the media in the wake of the token’s announcement in June. Monday saw the first update of the Libra blog since the launch announcement, in which Michael Engle, Head of Developer Ecosystem, announced an expansion of a bug bounty program from specially selected security experts to the general public, with participants able to receive up to $10,000 in rewards, a process Eagle hopes will “further accelerate and expand this feedback loop” and shows that Facebook itself has no concerns about Libra’s future.
Building a scalable, reliable and secure @Libra_ Blockchain is our priority. We need your help to identify bugs and flaws in the platform. Rewards of up to $10K. Start now: https://t.co/Mrv6ymTzoS
— Libra Dev (@LibraDev) August 27, 2019
Facebook Hires Lobbying Firm
Libra has been in the news almost constantly since its launch in June, most recently because of suggestions that some of its high-profile backers are considering pulling out because of the extremely negative reaction by the mainstream media and governments worldwide. To combat this, Facebook recently took on the services of a lobbying firm in an attempt to convince lawmakers that Libra is different from other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and so shouldn’t be caught in the regulatory net that it being thrown over crypto by regulators worldwide. With the summer recess coming to a close next week and Libra likely to be high on the agenda, this lobbying will take on new urgency.
No Roadmap Means no Deadlines
Libra currently has no publicly available roadmap, which is a wise move by the creators as it prevents them from painting themselves into a corner, but means that aside from irregular blog posts, the occasional update on social media, or internal whispers from those working on the project, it will be hard for those on the outside to get an idea of how the blockchain really is developing. With threats being made towards Libra cryptocurrency in general from those at the very top of government, it is unclear how long Facebook would consider pushing ahead with the development of Libra, or if there is a point where they see the hurdles as too large and decide that enough is enough.
