CBC: Bank of Facebook: A financial analyst says the Libra is 'an absurd idea'

Matt Stoller says Facebook's proposed global currency would give it the financial powers of a sovereign state

Facebook already knows what you want to buy and if the tech giant gets its way, it will give you the currency to buy it as early as next year.

This week, Facebook announced its plans to launch its own global digital currency called Libra.

Facebook and WhatsApp users could buy Libra with their dollars and then use Libra to shop or send payments around the world with no fees.

Unlike other cryptocurrencies, Facebook's Libra would be backed by some of the largest publicly traded companies in the world.

But Matt Stoller, a former financial policy advisor to the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, says this move would take the company out of the business world and into the realm of a sovereign nation.

Stoller, a fellow at Open Markets Institute, says Facebook's plans are in fact "absurd" and there are national security concerns that will make it unworkable. He's part of his conversation with Day 6 host Brent Bambury.

Listen to the interview and read the full transcript on CBC.