2019年经济学人 Facebook推出“天秤币”(3)

 

Technically¹ and financially, Facebook could probably pull off such an ambitious undertaking² on its own. But not politically. Its culture is less amoral than it was in its youth, when it aspired³ to “move fast and break things”—but only a bit. Chary⁴ consumers may choose not to entrust⁵ their money to a social network which has, until recently, leaked their personal data left and right. Unless users are on board, merchants may be reluctant to embrace the currency, however hassle-free.

Facebook在技术和财务上很可能独自完成这样一项雄心勃勃的事业。但在政治方面却不可能独自完成。其文化不像年轻时那么非道德化，那时的Facebook渴望“快速行动，打破陈规”——但程度只是一点点。谨慎的消费者可能会选择不把钱托付给一个直到最近才左右泄露了他们个人数据的社交网络。除非用户同意，否则商家可能不愿接受这种货币，尽管这种货币操作起来很便利。

Enter the Libra consortium. The association, to be based in Geneva, will take over from Facebook before the first Libra has been spent, and manage the hard-currency reserves. Facebook has enlisted⁶ 28 other prospective⁷ founding members out of an envisaged⁸ 100, each with equal voting rights and operating a node in a decentralised system which issues coins. They include financial firms (Visa, Stripe), online services (Spotify, Uber), cryptocurrency wallets (Anchorage, Coinbase), venture capitalists (Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures) and charities (Kiva, Mercy Corps)—though, for the time being, no banks. Not a libertarian alternative to the existing financial system, in other words, but a complement⁹.

进入天秤币联盟。该协会总部位于日内瓦，将在第一批天秤币用完之前接管Facebook，并管理硬通货储备。Facebook从预计的100名创始成员中招募了28名其他潜在创始成员，每个人都拥有平等的投票权，并在一个发行硬币的分散化系统中运营一个节点。这些公司包括金融公司(Visa、Stripe)、在线服务公司(Spotify、Uber)、加密货币钱包(Anchorage、Coinbase)、风险投资家(安德森?霍洛维茨基金、Union Square Ventures)和慈善机构(Kiva、美慈)，不过目前还没有银行。换句话说，这不是对现有金融体系的自由主义替代，而是一种补充。

To add credibility to its promise, broken in the past, to keep social and financial data separate, Facebook has created a subsidiary, Calibra, to run Libra services within its apps. It is unlikely to face hurdles¹⁰ to uptake from Apple or Google. It is impossible to imagine them expelling Messenger and WhatsApp—and later other providers Facebook is inviting¹¹ to the open-source project— from their app stores, as they have done with other cryptocurrency offerings, many of which were scams.

Facebook过去曾承诺将社交数据和财务数据分开，为了增加可信度，该公司创建了一个子公司Calibra，在其应用程序中运行天秤币服务。它不太可能面临从苹果或谷歌那里收购的障碍。很难想象他们会像对待其他加密货币产品一样，将Messenger和whatsapp(后来Facebook还邀请其他提供商加入这个开源项目)从他们的应用程序商店中驱逐出去，其中很多都是骗局。

To get Libra going, the consortium will pay merchants to offer discounts to customers who use the new currency, financed by a $10m one-off fee each member pays for a seat at the table. Eventually, Facebook would like anybody, not just the consortium, to be able to generate the currency, transfer it and offer services on top of its “blockchain” (crypto-speak for the database that keeps track of who owns what). At that point, Libra would turn into Bitcoin, minus the kinks and the libertarianism.

为了让天秤币持续发展，该联盟将付钱给商家，让他们为使用新货币的顾客提供折扣，资金来源是每位会员支付1000万美元的一次性入会费。最终，Facebook希望任何人，不仅仅是财团，都能够生成货币，将其转移，并在其“区块链”(用于跟踪谁拥有什么东西的数据库的密码)上提供服务。在那种意义下，天秤币会变成去掉复杂手续和所谓自由主义的比特币。

1 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

2 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

3 aspired   

v.渴望，追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She aspired to a scientific career. 她有志于科学事业。
• Britain,France,the United States and Japan all aspired to hegemony after the end of World War I. 第一次世界大战后，英、法、美、日都想争夺霸权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 chary   

adj.谨慎的，细心的

参考例句：

• She started a chary descent of the stairs.她开始小心翼翼地下楼梯。
• She is chary of strangers.她见到陌生人会害羞。

5 entrust   

v.信赖，信托，交托

参考例句：

• I couldn't entrust my children to strangers.我不能把孩子交给陌生人照看。
• They can be entrusted to solve major national problems.可以委托他们解决重大国家问题。

6 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

8 envisaged   

想像，设想( envisage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He envisaged an old age of loneliness and poverty. 他面对着一个孤独而贫困的晚年。
• Henry Ford envisaged an important future for the motor car. 亨利·福特为汽车设想了一个远大前程。

9 complement   

n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足

参考例句：

• The two suggestions complement each other.这两条建议相互补充。
• They oppose each other also complement each other.它们相辅相成。

10 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

11 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。