Collaborating With HackerOne, Facebook Brings Its Bug Bounty Program For The Cryptocurrency Libra

Facebook has announced its partnering with Hacker One on a bug bounty program for its blockchain applications, in conjunction with introducing their cryptocurrency, Libra. Although government regulators are speculative of the results produced by the intro, calling the company to suspend the project until assessing the legality and potential threat they may pose to the global financial system.

This hasn’t kept Facebook and its partners away from unveiling Libra and offering proof of the seriousness with the bug bounty program. It takes responsibility and looks into ways to refashion the global financial system entirely. Facebook is pegging security experts with rewards of up to $10,000 for finding the flaws in code developed for the foundation’s testnet.

The bug bounty program was launched before Libra went live hoping that people would accept it for everyday financial needs making the infrastructure dependable and safe,” said Dante Disparte, head of Policy and Communications, Libra Association. “To note that Libra Blockchain remains in testnet, an early-stage version of the code is far from reaching the final destination. We are committed to taking time to get the right code as Libra is launched until regulatory concerns are taken into account and receiving approvals.”

The step is potentially premature, taking into account that the bug bounty program is still not commercially viable.” As it has been launched, the association is looking into matters o security actively and in a progressive way,” said Aaron Henshaw, chief technology officer of Bison Trails, a blockchain infrastructure service provider and partner in Libra foundation.

 This could again mean as some perceive, an overabundance of caution, while others call it public relations stunt to gauge public attention and influence lawmakers about the security of the system.

The spokesperson does not want to comment on how many projects are currently operating on the test net. It would be better for the association to deal with potential bugs their payment system creates for governments and the global financial system.

The digital currency is being thrashed from all sides and the many hearings in front of congressional committees are wreaking havoc, especially for David Marcus, the chief executive of Facebook’s digital payments subsidiary Calibra. The intention behind the global currency was crucially scrutinized by the House Financial Services Committee. Facebook is being critically questioned about the two-pronged approach it has taken to transform the global financial services industry.

Facebook has provided ample independence to the association it has chosen to be a partner with. The ties between Facebook and the corporations and investors are way too many to address by the existing governing body.

Libra being set up as a stablecoin with the value set by the Association, is attached to the basket of global currencies providing a head butt against currency fluctuation as a result of speculative investment. By paying a certain amount of currency, they can receive an amount of Libra and spend it wherever they are accepted at participating merchants or companies. 

With billions of Facebook users, the Libra Association would be included in the ranks of the top 20 largest banks in America. That itself is the reason why regulatory oversight is necessary as per some representatives. They were concerned as its membership manipulates currencies displacing the US dollar as the global reserve currency.

The structure of the basket of currency isn’t a currency, instead, it rests on top of currencies providing stability and access for the users making the system function more effectively.

The fear that the organization behind Libra would pick currency winners and losers thereby leveraging the holdings potentially manipulating markets is out of place and an unwanted worry. Some of the members of the Finance Committee think it is a financial instrument needs regulation from government agencies.

For Libra, Marcus argues that it isn’t an exchange-traded fund as users transacting using cryptocurrency through services like Facebook’s Calibra will not be speculating currency’s rise in value. This comes out of place as members of the Libra Association expect to generate returns from the assets held in Libra and invested in short term basket of currencies.

The whole new Libra project is ambitious as much as secure it is. Even though experts pose valid reasons to be skeptical about its execution, it can become a systemic player in a global financial system quicker than the proponents who are willing to accept. It is still useful and does not need to be thrown out concerning security issues. All that it requires is an appropriate oversight that Facebook is sure to get from jurisdictions that may slightly touch it.