2019年经济学人 Facebook推出“天秤币”(4)

 

Hard currency

硬通货币

In a project with so many moving parts, much can go wrong. Although Facebook says it has a working prototype, the technology is untested; sceptics doubt that a 100-node system, let alone a bigger one, could process thousands of transactions per second. Hackers¹ are doubtless champing at the bit.

在一个有这么多活动部件的项目中，可能会出现很多问题。尽管Facebook称其有一个工作原型，但该技术尚未经过测试；怀疑论者怀疑，一个拥有100个节点的系统，更不用说一个更大的系统，每秒能处理数千个事务。毫无疑问，黑客们正跃跃欲试。

Then there are consortium dynamics². Facebook will have to prove to the other 99 Libra members that it is truly prepared to give up control. At the same time, because important decisions need a two-thirds majority, someone has to knock heads together. The history of information technology is littered with initiatives that collapsed³ under the weight of internal conflict.

此外还有财团的活力。Facebook必须向其他99个天秤币合伙人证明，真的准备放弃控制权。与此同时，因为重要的决策需要三分之二的多数同意，所以必须有人集思广益。信息技术的历史上，不乏在内部冲突的重压下崩溃的计划。

The biggest barrier may be political. Facebook has apparently⁴ consulted many regulators. The providers of digital wallets will have to comply with national rules, such as those against money-laundering. Calibra, whose integration⁵ into Messenger and WhatsApp will initially⁶ make it the dominant⁷ wallet, is bound to stoke competition concerns. These may recede⁸ as the currency grows bigger and more decentralised, only to be replaced by worries about financial stability.

最大的障碍可能是政治。Facebook显然咨询了许多监管机构。数字钱包的提供者必须遵守国家规定，比如反洗钱规定。Calibra与Messenger和WhatsApp的整合，最初将使其成为占据主导地位的钱包，这势必会引发竞争担忧。随着天秤币的升值和更加分散化，这些担忧可能会消退，取而代之的是对金融稳定的担忧。

Libra’s success, then, is far from assured. But it could prove useful even if it flops⁹, for it offers a blueprint¹⁰ for how Facebook itself could one day be governed. The Libra Association’s main task is to oversee¹¹ the blockchain, ensuring, for instance, that Calibra does not enjoy privileged access to it. An equivalent Facebook Association, some observers have ventured, could be composed of representatives of users, advertisers, data-protection authorities and so on. Their job could be to oversee the “social graph”, another database, which lists all of Facebook’s users and the links between them—and to guarantee that Facebook users can post to another social network, and vice¹² versa.

天秤座的成功还远未确定。但即使失败了，它也可能被证明是有用的，因为它为Facebook有朝一日如何自我管理提供了一幅蓝图。天秤币协会的主要任务是监督区块链，例如确保Calibra不享有访问天秤币的特权。一些观察人士大胆提出，一个类似的Facebook协会可能由用户、广告商、数据保护机构等方面的代表组成。他们的工作可能是监督“社交图”，另一个数据库，它列出了Facebook的所有用户和他们之间的链接，并确保Facebook用户可以发布到另一个社交网络，反之亦然。

1 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

2 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

3 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

4 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

5 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

6 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

7 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

8 recede   

vi.退(去)，渐渐远去；向后倾斜，缩进

参考例句：

• The colleges would recede in importance.大学的重要性会降低。
• He saw that the dirty water had begun to recede.他发现那污浊的水开始往下退了。

9 flops   

n.失败( flop的名词复数 )v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的第三人称单数 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• a pair of flip-flops 一双人字拖鞋
• HPC environments are often measured in terms of FLoating point Operations Per Second (FLOPS) . HPC环境通常以每秒浮点运算次数(FLOPS)加以度量。 来自互联网

10 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

11 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

12 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。