For all its crypto styling, Facebook’s Libra looks less like bitcoin and more like a 50-year-old type of investment fund that has attracted intense regulatory scrutiny since the 2008 financial crisis. Investors should be skeptical of claims it can escape the same kind of attention. This is a familiar question raised by sharing-economy disrupters like ride-service firm Uber and hospitality platform Airbnb. How much of what they offer is a new source of value? Or are they just jumping—temporarily—ahead of outdated laws?

Source: Wall Street Journal July 04, 2019 11:03 UTC