Will Libra kill it?
Facebook and partners will introduce a stablecoin
Paypal is in too
Where Ripple Incorporated seems to have failed with its XRP token (a security), Facebook now seems to destroy it soon with its own 'Libra' token. Which will be completely backed by so called 'fiat money'. Apparantly, according to rumours, their 'Libra' instant payment system hardware will cost 10 million USD. It seems they will have a complete product from the start. And something that Ripple Incorporated could not manage with XRP, Facebook seems to pull off right away with 'Libra'.
If you thought XRP was being used by all of Ripple Incorporated its partners, then you were wrongly informed. There is only one fairly unknown EU based bank that seems to use it. It has been a tale that started to live on its own, mostly inside the so called 'XRP army', that XRP was being used by all kinds of banks and financial institutions. That was disinformation, leading to a wrong impression about XRP, but it is not Ripple (Incorporated).
And with more than 50 billion XRP in reserve, controlled by Ripple Inc, one might wonder what will happen next. Will big bagholders wait until the price of XRP starts to drop a few cents, or will they start to dump real soon. Recently there has been a few cents up-down movement. The upcoming 'Libra' announcement, with partners like PayPal, might cause a severe downfall in the value of XRP. My idea is that those who were virtual billionairs at current XRP prices will want to secure their innitial investment.
Yes, I am biased
For one the coming of 'Libra' is a blessing. It is not a real Cryptocurrency though, like Bitcoin {BTC}, Litecoin {LTC} or Steem. Just like XRP was not. Facebook its 'coin' will be like bankers 'fiat money'. The partners will have specialized hardware running so they can function as intermediators for the 'Libra' instant payment system. Even private banks could jump in and use it. A fast settlement system with a private ledger. Centrally controlled by a business group.
This is where it will be an XRP killer, even up to a point where Ripple Incorporated may start to join in with Facebook its 'Libra' system. This is good news for the real decentralized CryptoCurrencies, not owned by large corporates and/ or private banks. 'Libra' will wipe out all fake Cryptos that have been on the top of the list so far. There will be no use for them anymore. As those who want to go safe will move into the 'Libra' realm of the spectrum. While many will just clean up their Crypto portfolio and buy Digibyte, Vertcoin, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin, Bitshares, EOS, Steem or one of many others.
Digital money is not Crypto
As 'Libra' is merely an instant settlement layer with a solid pegged value, it is not that interesting for Crypto HODLrs and traders. Maybe it could be used for leverage trading, or temporary storage of value. But as it will all be registered on a private ledger, this might not really be any competition to the Cryptos realm. At least, I do not see it happen like that. There will be a shift though, I expect, where the most well known, strong, Cryptos will gain in value a lot.
From my point of view seen I think there will be a kind of framing, linked to 'Libra'. The suggestion that people will be 'free' when they are using products and services of all those large corporations and private banks. As governments will probably support them, right away. It is a next step though, as I think, to a totalitarian global ruling system. The banking monetary governance system is authoritarian in its deepest evil rotten essence.
So I am fully supporting free and open source soft- and hardware, cryptos and voluntarism (or whatever human liberty is called.) The other road leads to a total authoritarian new world order. And just like for me, the choice will be yours to make.