Less Bitcoin-y, more Venmo-y... Facebook wanted to change the world with its big, sexy crypto project Libra: a single, global cryptocurrency that would empower billions to save, earn, and spend via their phones. But Congress didn't like all that power with 1 company. Facebook announced Friday that Libra's ambitions got a massive downgrade: instead of a global currency independent of all others, Libra 2.0 will be digital money tied to a local currency in your FB account. Sounds more like Venmo. And TBD when/if it'll actually launch.
The defaults are coming... With 22M Americans unemployed, big banks are preparing to not receive repayment on many of their loans. So they're setting aside cash in advance to cover expected future loan losses. JPMorgan's profit fell 70% as it set aside an extra $6.8B for losses (it had only expected to need $1.5B pre-corona). Goldman Sachs' profit plunged 49% after it held an extra $1B to cover future loan fails and Wells Fargo evaporated $3B of profit on its own loss expectations.