Binance announces Venus: A major localised stablecoin project now underway
If Facebook's Libra is about neutrality and stability, Binance's Venus might be about warmth and cooperation.
Today Binance announced the Venus open blockchain project, which it describes as "an initiative to develop localized stablecoins and digital assets pegged to fiat currencies across the globe".
Its announcement hints at existing government partnerships, saying Binance "welcomes additional government partners, companies and organizations with a strong interest and influence on a global scale to collaborate with us to build a new open alliance and sustainable community." Italics added for emphasis.
"We encourage like-minded people and organizations to contact us and discuss the infinite possibilities of the digital world together."
Along the way, Binance says it will "provide full-process technical support, compliance risk control system and multi-dimensional cooperation network to build Venus, leveraging its existing infrastructure and regulatory establishments."
It's a timely initiative.
The International Monetary Fund has encouraged central banks to explore digital currency, and many countries are blazing their own trails towards digital currency. The offer of technical and regulatory support from one of the biggest names in crypto will probably tempt a lot of governments, and other organisations, with digital currency ambitions.
"We believe that in the near and long term, stablecoins will progressively replace traditional fiat currencies in countries around the world, and bring a new and balanced standard of the digital economy,” said Binance co-founder Yi He. "We hope to achieve a vision, that is, to reshape the world financial system, allow countries to have more tangible financial services and infrastructures, protect their financial security and increase the economic efficiency of countries."
It's reasonable to assume the name Venus is a reference to Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency. Libra and Venus, as celestial bodies, are both said to denote certain personality traits.
Libra denotes stability and balance, making it a suitable name for a single stablecoin whose chief goal is to remain steady against whatever the world throws at it. And Venus, as a vestige of the old Roman goddess of love, is said to denote caring, empathy and strong interpersonal relations.
Incidentally, more people believe in star signs than own cryptocurrency.
Perhaps this hints at the direction Binance is going with the coin; the infrastructure for a series of connected, caring, sharing and cooperative localised stablecoins rather than a domineering pillar of stability like Facebook's Libra.
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Disclosure: The author holds BNB and BTC at the time of writing.
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