Things To Know About Libra’s New Boss

Facebook’s new cryptocurrency, also known as Libra has been a key talking point over the last few months as the social network giants announced they would investing a huge amount of time, effort and money into the production of a fully working, blockchain based cryptocurrency which would have a use across Facebook’s network of Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook and Facebook Messenger. 

David Marcus has recently been announced as a key figure within the roll out of Libra, he’s the person overseeing everything and therefore has been in the spotlight recently, given that high profile figures such as President Donald Trump is now discussing Libra on social media too. So, who is David Marcus?

According to Cointelegraph, Marcus was always a bit of a futurist when he was younger, always wanting to leave academia during his school life to pursue business ventures instead:

“Born into a Romanian-Iranian family in Paris, the future head of Libra was raised in Switzerland, where he attended the University of Geneva. Like so many of his future tech industry colleagues, he left school long before earning a degree in order to focus on an entrepreneurial career.”

Furthermore:

“At aged 23, Marcus founded his first startup — a telecom carrier — which was acquired by a larger integrated communications corporation after four years under his leadership. His first experience with payments came after he established a mobile media monetization company, Echovox, whose feats, among others, included facilitating SMS voting for big-name TV shows.”

His career as a businessman continued throughout his early adult life, eventually leading to an appointment at Facebook in 2014 as the head of Facebook’s Messenger products - a suitable role given Marcus’s career in telecoms. 

During this time, Marcus began to develop a keen interest in cryptocurrencies, becoming a keen investor and spending a significant amount of time looking at how cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin can work on an institutional level. It does seem that given his experience, his drive to innovate and his passion for cryptocurrencies, Marcus was almost destined for a position at the very top of Facebook’s cryptocurrency. As Cointelegraphy rightly points out, he seems to be the perfect man for the job, despite what you might think or feel about Facebook as a company:

“Overall, a review of Marcus’ record suggests that, regardless of one’s feelings toward Facebook and Libra, he is fairly well qualified to represent the crypto space before the world’s powerful. While his early involvement with Bitcoin attests to the authenticity of his pro-crypto claims, Marcus’ experience with the global payments market and pro-consumer orientation gives hope that he might at least make an honest attempt to steer Libra in the direction of social good.”