That’s a massive user base with massive opportunity to spread your brand. But what’s the best way to optimize your brand on Instagram? Read ahead for a few simple tips for Instagram branding.

First, Know Thyself

To optimize your brand on Instagram, you first have to know exactly what your brand is. This involves having certain values your brand stands for, specific ideas about what your brand’s style and vibe are, and a direction for it to grow into.

Before develop your online marketing strategy, brainstorm and compile a list of key words that you either would or would not associate with your brand. These can be descriptors, like “sleek” or “rustic,” or more abstract concepts like “family” or “disrupt.” This can be a great exercise for the whole company to engage in, if you have multiple employees, to get on the same page and realize a vision.

Once you’ve got a good list of associated words, you will have a better idea of what your brand really is. Combine that with a plan for what you want your brand to become and grow towards, and you’ll be well set-up to bring your branding to Instagram.

Invest in Good Design

Good design, especially in visual medium, can go a long way. Since Instagram is such an image-centric platform (as opposed to the text-based Twitter), well-designed graphics can give your brand an edge over others.

Design in the 21st century has become an investment, not a cost, according to Fast Company. Designers also do more than just make things look good; they can help you streamline your work and make a big difference in the highly competitive online e-commerce world.

It may well be worth spending some money hiring a good graphic designer or two to curate content or come up with templates and a portfolio for your product and service ads, and your general Instagram presence. A polished image and striking visuals will help you stand out amongst the myriad of competitors online.

Stay Consistent

In line with having good design, having consistent design is just as important in any marketing strategy. Especially on Instagram, where users scroll past thousands of posts a week, a consistent throughline can make users more likely to remember you.

Try implementing a certain visual cue that repeats in all your posts and advertising. This could be a logo in the corner, a similar format or template for related posts, or something as simple as a unique color scheme.

Over time, Instagram users will associate that visual cue with your business without even necessarily needing to remember a brand name. If you produce good content (the basis of any good Instagram presence), they will start to be primed to look for your branding and will respond more acutely to it.

Another area in which consistency is crucial is in your tone. Just look at Wendy’s, whose snarky Twitter voice has become inextricably tied to its brand. In all your social media branding, across all platforms and websites, your tone should be consistent. This includes in private messages and customer service responses to customers.

By maintaining consistent visual and verbal branding, your brand can become familiar and trustworthy to consumers, who will start to see your Instagram presence as friendly, not just trying to sell them something. Combine that with posting consistently throughout the week, and you’re one step closer to your optimal Instagram brand presence.

Engage With Your Audience

Another easy, fun, and important way to optimize your brand on Instagram is to focus more on engaging your audience.

No one likes to be talked at constantly. Just like good conversations, social media interactions should involve a back-and-forth, an exchanging of ideas. But as a brand posting on Instagram, how do you avoid simply talking at your audience?

The best solution here is to encourage your followers to engage with you and talk back. This can be as simple as including polls in Instagram stories, including sliders, or asking a question in your post captions. Instagram users love having a say, and even the simple act of responding to a poll can make them feel more engaged. Plus, as a brand you get a better sense of who is really reading and responding to your content.

For even more benefits, encourage users to post something on their story about you, or hold contests that involve connecting to your page somehow. This not only brings your followers more enjoyment, but spreads your brand to their followers as well.

Partner With People

Finally, one of the most effective ways to market your brand on Instagram is to engage in direct or indirect partnerships with accounts on the platform. This can mean teaming up with other brands, or working with influencers and brand ambassadors.

Teaming up with other brands can be useful to expand your reach and is a benefit to both sides. Consider letting another related brand do an Instagram takeover from your account for a day or week. This brings their audience to your page and your audience to theirs, all the while providing newer and more exciting content.

Working with brand ambassadors or influencers can be very effective, as these users often have huge followings and your partnerships will be more organic and authentic than simply putting up an advertisement into the feed. Brand ambassadors can often be hired through job boards or even event staffing agencies online, and are much more cost-effective than traditional marketing methods.

In Summary

Overall, many general marketing principles apply when you’re looking to optimize your brand on Instagram. Planning, vision, and implementation are all key factors.

By getting intimately acquainted with your brand’s image and path for the future, you not only make Instagram branding easier but have something to draw upon in all parts of your business journey. Make sure to stay consistent to your vision in all parts of your social media presence.

Try investing in good graphic design early, to avoid the hassle and confusion of redesigning later. A good design plan draws users to your brand and makes it a familiar face in the rapidfire world of Instagram. Once your visual design plan is in place, maintain that consistency in both your posts and your text communication.

Engage with your audience, and let your audience engage with you as well. By using polls, sliders, and calls to action, you will build deeper connections with your followers and they will be more inclined to stay connected with you. Lastly, consider investing in partnerships with other brands, influencers, and brand ambassadors.

By integrating yourself effectively into the world of Instagram, your brand can tap into its billion-plus users and make the most of their time and money.

For more how-to guides and content like this, check out TECHRADO.

Outsource Work

To run your company efficiently, you’ll have to perform many jobs. You may find yourself struggling to keep up with all of the work by yourself, and until the business starts to turn a profit, you probably won’t be able to afford to hire employees to work strictly for you. There are, however, many ways you can outsource work to relieve some of your stress. Consider hiring a virtual assistant to take care of some of the administrative tasks associated with running a company. If you find that you spend too much time generating content for your website or marketing campaign, try using a content subscription service. You are free to choose the length, topic, and type of content but have someone else write it, which saves you a significant amount of time.

Practice Great Time Management

Good time management is a valuable skill, and it’s never too late to start developing it. Poor time management leads to diminished productivity and an increased workload. You have to make a conscious effort to improve your time management skills, but it can be done with some hard work and dedication. Start by making a list of all of your daily activities and arrange them according to priority. Some people find it helpful to have a tangible list so they can mark off tasks as they are completed, while others prefer to use virtual calendars. You may also want to try a time-blocking schedule. Try several options and find the ones that work best for you.

Use the Right Software

Administrative tasks take up a lot of time. Instead of wasting time performing these tasks manually, take advantage of new advances in technology and try software designed to streamline certain tasks. Project management software is a great way to keep track of individual tasks so you can set realistic completion dates. This type of software is also helpful for keep track of your notes and storing vital information in one convenient place. It grows with your company and will keep future employees on the same page, too, so project management software is a great investment for a new business.

You may also want to use accounting software. Instead of having to crunch the numbers yourself to determine your profit margin, let this type of program do it for you. You simply input expenses and income into the program each day and let the software keep track of your numbers so you know how well your company is doing financially. Accounting software is a useful tool for analyzing expenses so you can figure out how to cut costs when necessary.

Running a company is both challenging and rewarding, but there is more at stake when it comes to launching a startup that can succeed long-term. If you want to avoid getting burned out by all of the duties you’ll have to perform as a CEO, use these three tips so you can focus on growing your business instead of getting bogged down with administrative work.

Follow TechRado for more Technology News Around the Globe.

FamiSafe Parental Control:

This is the best parental control app that is compatible with both android and apple devices. The application is small in size and does not consume much space on the device. This parental control app can monitor the kids’ internet activity and restrict access to harmful websites and apps. You can grant permission for accessing good sites that are informative and helpful in their education. You can download FamiSafe from the play store and install it on your kid’s phone without letting them know. The spying activities like watching out their calls and messages are done in stealth mode, making it more efficient. You can ensure your kids’ safety from kidnappers by installing the FamiSafe app in a child’s smartphone.

Google chrome Parental Control app:

Google also provides parental control apps that can monitor the internet activity of your child and restrict websites that can spoil their innocent mind. This app is effective in blocking adult websites like porn, drug selling website, etc. Not only this, but they can also restrict adult dating sites that are used for sex chats. You can also block the time-consuming gaming apps that can hamper their study and affect their performance in examination eventually. You can also track the exact location of your child using an advanced GPS tracking system. It comes with a panic button that can alert and notify you in an emergency.

Spy phone Parental control app:

This app is a sophisticated and advanced parental control app that remains undetectable by working in stealth mode. It can block the sites intently and monitor the internet activity of your child. You can also get an analysis report and check which apps or websites are accessed by your child every month. In this way, you can restrict them or block them as per your observation. Spy phone, Parental control app, is easy to use because of the interactive, user-friendly environment.

Using the Parental control app in the modern era has become very important, especially because the crime rate is increasing day by day. The uncertainty of the safety of the child worries every parent. We can track our kid’s phones and ensure their safety while working in our office. Not only has this, but we can also check the messages, chat interaction on messenger with all call records. Parents can also impose restrictions on certain apps or websites that can be harmful to child psychology.

Conclusion

We hope that the above information has been fruitful to you, and if you have any further related queries, you can send us an email to get our instant response. You can subscribe to our site for the latest information about the parental control apps as well. The above list is based on extensive study and research, and a comparative study of similar products is made.

Let’s take a look inside and see what else this handy headlight kit can do for you.

What is a Kensun HID Kit?

If you’re looking to give your headlights new life, then any of the Kensun HID kits are a great choice. These headlight conversion kits offer several colors ranging from white, yellow, blue, purple, and more. Each set of lights offer a 4300K, 5000K or 6000K plus brightness. And outside of being from a top-rated supplier, these kits are extremely easy to install.
Now you might wonder how to do these headlight kits work. The full manual can be found at https://www.truetop5review.com/kensun/.
These kits are as simple as they are easy to set in place. The kit connects to your car’s battery, then you insert the HID bulbs into the headlight housing, and voilà you have lights. And because the lights are directly hooked to the battery this will also prevent any flickering, a common issue among cheaper kits.
Kensun kits provide more than just a stream of light that can break through the darkest of nights, they also give you a variety of kit types.  Now let’s dig into the nitty-gritty of each variation of the Kensun HID kit.
Types of Kensun HID Kits

Kensun HID kits can be categorized into three basic types. The types of kits are bi-xenon, single HID, and HID-halogen. Each will variate in how light is projected. And depending on your preferences you may find one better than the other, however, each are good in their own right.

• Bi-Xenon
  
  These kits give you the best of both worlds in one bulb. Bi-xenon kits use one HID bulb for each headlight. This bulb will shift the light’s position the moment you turn on your high beams.
  But that is not all this type of kit is capable of. These kits also use a magnet to shift the light in the headlight housing which, in turn, changes the direction of the light emitted by the bulb.

• Single HID
  
  This type of Kensun HID kit utilizes a single bulb to light up the road. It doesn’t include a high beam light, but this does make them ideal for city use.
• HID-Halogen
  
  Similar to the bi-xenon kits, the HID-halogen Kensun kits offer both a low beam and high beam lights. The difference lies within the fact that you have a separate bulb for low beam and a halogen bulb for high beam lights. This allows you to easily turn on or off the high beams without turning off all headlights.

Outside of the different types of Kensun kits, there are many perks to using one these in your headlight assembly over alternative models.

The Perks to Using a Kensun HID Kit to Light Up the Road
While these headlight kits may differ in types, they do offer the same perks. Kensun HID kits offer a wide selection of benefits that are what make them stand out among their competitors. Some of these benefits are:

• Installation takes only 20-50 minutes. Kit includes everything needed for installation.
• It is built with durability in mind.
• Energy efficient
• Exceptional brightness
• Waterproof and dust-proof design
• Long-lasting light bulbs with replacement options

So with these perks in mind, let’s see if the Kensun HID kit is the right headlight fix for you.

Is the Kensun HID Kit a Perfect Fit for You?

While these Kensun kits are great for all that they have to offer, they aren’t for everyone, or at the very least for all vehicles. Some kits will require a few extra parts for assembly such as zip ties and extra tools. And depending on which outlet you purchase your kit from, you may find the kit is not up to par with the company’s quality standard but if you are dead set on owning one of these cool headlight sets, then the solutions are simple.
But before you run out and buy your Kensun HID kit, there are a few things to consider before you make your purchase.

Some points to consider are:

• For optimal lighting, choose kits that have a Kelvin rating that is 4300K and higher.
• The cable from the light can run a bit shorter than the ballast. But the solution is as simple as tying the cable up in a slightly different way than what you would normally do.
• You’ll need to wait a moment before the HID bulbs turn on.
• While these kits are better suited for off-road use, the 6000K and 4300K Kelvin ratings are ideal for city use.
• Depending on the Kensun kit you choose, the light’s brightness can affect the FM radio.
• The kits are designed for vehicles with an H11 lamp bulb.

It is expected that nothing is ever truly perfect, but the Kensun HID kit does strive to come close. And if you’re ever in doubt, there are plenty of workarounds to help you install the kit quick and easy.

The Kensun HID Kit: Making Headlight Upgrades Easier than Ever

Now that you have seen the different types of Kensun HID kits, perks, and what to look out for, these kits are worth trying. They will easily outshine any factory bulb you put in your headlights. On top of that, these headlight kits are durable, easy to use, easy to remove, and you’re getting a good product from a reputable company.

And if good customer satisfaction isn’t enough incentive, then you’ll love the affordable prices. Kensun HID kits offer the best for only $49.99 – 69.99 depending on the type of kit you choose.

pCloudy is a smart mobile app testing solution that lets developers ensure their users enjoy a smooth and consistent experience. The cloud-based platform has a library of more than 500 Android and iOS devices, so that teams can view exactly how their applications render and run on the most popular and even less ubiquitous smartphones and tablets.

With pCloudy, developers can access manual and automated testing options to facilitate the swift debugging of their applications. Other than those, individuals and teams can also nominate to have a bot or a crowd help them in the process.

pCloudy also provides additional platform hosting options. For developers and groups that wish to have the solution hosted on a private cloud or on-premises instead, they can request these setups to suit their needs.

Features:

Vast Device Library

With pCloudy, developers have access to more than 500 Android and iOS devices that they can test their applications on. This accelerates their product delivery and allows them to make sure the end product runs smoothly across different screen sizes.

Additionally, pCloudy assists developers in finding the devices they want to test their application on. Rather than letting them scroll through the library until they find their preferred device, the solution has a robust search function that lets users filter results according to their OS version, manufacturer, real SIM network, and location.

Real Device Testing

Rather than offering emulators, pCloudy provides developers with the tools they need to test their apps on real devices. This way, they can stringently ensure that their products are error-free before they roll out.

Automated Script Testing

To facilitate swifter testing, debugging, and time to market, pCloudy offers developers with the option to automate their application testing process. The solution has multiple automation methods that can run parallel to each other for more expeditious testing.

App Health Checker

Users do not like applications that use up a lot of their device’s resources. That is why it is important for developers to monitor their impact on a device’s CPU, memory, and battery. With these real-time insights conferred to developers by pCloudy, they can improve their application’s performance to make it more attractive to their target audiences.

Human Feedback

Sometimes, results gleaned from machine platforms are not enough. pCloudy understands this, therefore it has a community of real testers and users who can offer human insights into the application’s performance. This lets developers and teams gain a deeper understanding of how their apps can benefit users.

Pricing:

Starting Price: 49$/mo

PCloudy Demo Video

Pros of pCloudy

• pCoudy has a huge phones variety, multiple carriers India, US, easy access to phone settings and logs
• User friendly , stable, interactive, we could test on cloud device very easily, we had feel of real device.
• number of device supported , pricing is also reasonable . Although we didnt use automation feature but that also seems pretty matured
• – An easy​ and user-friendly app that allows to backup the personal and work files in a unique on-line location that you can access everywhere.

Cons of pCloudy

• Competitive are and limited free storage
• Its untimely disconnections and taking long time to reconnect It logs out sometimes unnecessarily.
• Sometimes connecting to the device is taking too much time and sometimes screenshot feature also not working.
• Previously service didn’t have an intuitive interface or easy settings access, now it’s all there and easy to use

What is Cisco 300-101 Exam?

The Cisco 300-101 exam can be one of the most important tests that you take in your life
because it can change your career for the better. Many people say that this is a difficult
assessment, but you just need to focus on the goal and prepare properly.
The certification test consists of around 45-65 questions and you will have to answer them
within 120 minutes. Answering so many questions in just 2 hours is going to be a challenge and
that is why it is important to schedule your time. You should try to answer the questions as
quickly as possible and if you think that you are spending too much time on a given one, it will
be best for you to move on to the next one.The Cisco 300-101 exam is divided into 6 main
topics: Network Principles, Layer 2 and Layer 3 Technologies, VPN Technologies, Security and
Services of Infrastructure.
Cisco Certification Program
https://www.examsnap.com/cisco-certification-training.html
CCNA Routing & Switching Certification
https://www.examsnap.com/ccna-routing-and-switching-certification-dumps.html
https://www.prepaway.biz/200-125-exam-dumps.html

CCNP Routing & Switching Certification
https://www.examsnap.com/ccnp-routing-and-switching-certification-dumps.html

CCNP Routing & Switching Exams
https://www.examsnap.com/300-115-dumps.html
https://www.examsnap.com/300-135-dumps.html
https://www.examsnap.com/300-101-dumps.html
CCNP Specializations
https://www.examsnap.com/300-075-dumps.html

Preparation for Cisco 300-101 Exam

If you think that you will not be able to cover all the subjects and pass the 300-101 ROUTE
exam, then you probably won’t. You need to keep a positive outlook on things and motivate
yourself to do well. If you are planning to take this test, you need to ensure that you are willing
to allocate a good chunk of your time forthe training. Passing this certification exam is not
impossible, but it is going to take a lot of effort. If you are able to find the right study guides,
then things will certainly get easier for you.
You should spend a lot of time searching for the right resources because it is going to make a
huge difference. It is best if you go for paid onesas they are going to be the most reliable.
Purchase the official manual for the test as soon as possible because it will give you so much
needed information. If you are going to choose free study materials, then you will be taking a
huge risk. Sometimes there is no way of being sure that the information in these sources is
authentic.
When you are preparing for the Cisco 300-101 exam, you should consider checkingExamSnap.
This is awebsite that everyone acknowledges. If you head over to the ExamSnap website, you
will find a lot of things that will help you during your training for the ROUTE test. First and
foremost, the study bundle for Cisco 300-101 is going to come with a detailed study guide.
Along with this, you will also get a ton of training videos that you can watch as many times as
you want. And, most importantly, ExamSnap is going to provide you with a lot of practice
questions.
Being on the anvil for the Cisco 300-101 exam, you need to make sure that you answer as many
practice questions as you possibly can. They are mostly derived from past tests and therefore it
will give you an idea of what kind of questions you will find. Moreover, answering such
questions will allow you to assess your knowledge. If you are unable to give the correct answers
in the practice test, you still have time to work on the weak areas and improve them.The
training videos will also help you a lot during your practice. Everything about Cisco 300-101 is
covered in these videos with great deliberation and it will lead you through all of the topics
systematically.
After the preparation process, you will be ready to pass the Cisco CCNP R&S exam and get one
step closer to becoming a certified specialist in Routing and Switching.

Conclusion

Cisco is one of the most popular companies when it comes to network and security. A lot of
organizations today use Cisco networking solutions and that is why they need people to
maintain them. The Cisco 300-101 exam is one of the most popular tests that Cisco currently
offers. Passing this certification exam will bring you one step closer to the CCNP R&Scredential.
Earning this certificate will change your life.The employers usually prefer those employees who
are willing to bring something extra to the table and your certification will prove just that.
Havingthe Cisco certification under your belt will make you an ideal candidate for the job. One
important thing that you need to know about the 300-101 exam is that it won’t stick around for
long. According to the Cisco official website, the ROUTE test is set to retire on February 23,
2020.

SimilarWeb helps you to grow your market share and website traffic with its digital market intelligence platform. Compare any website traffic statistics & analytics. We have listed the top 5 similarweb.com alternatives or sites that worked in a similar way as SimilarWeb.com These are the best similarweb.com alternatives on the internet.

1.Alexa.com (Best Alternative)

Alexa helps you to boost traffic and revenue with a full suite of SEO and competitor analysis tools. Discover new opportunities to find, reach, and convert your audience. It is one of the best similar web alternatives.

2.Ahrefs

With Ahrefs you can audit your website, explore competitors, research keywords & backlinks – all in one place. Powered by seriously big data & trusted by top SEOs.This similarweb alternative provides in-depth details of the competitor in a go.

3.Semrush

SEMrush offers solutions for SEO, PPC, content, social media and competitive research. Trusted by over 3,000,000 marketers worldwide

4.Cuetstat

CuteStat.com is a web service for Website Owners, Webmasters, and General Internet Users to retrieve information related with Domain Name, IP Address, Web Server and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It is the tool that provides various statistical reports for any website like Website Valuation, Search Engine Reports, Traffic Reports, Social Engagement, Safety, Host Information, Domain WHOIS, Page Speed and much more. Simply type your Domain Name above for such awesome reports.

Related: Top 5 Cutestat Alternatives

5.Majestic

Majestic – Link intelligence tools for SEO and Internet PR and Marketing. Site Explorer shows the inbound links and site summary data. This similarweb alternative is famous for its TF and CF.

List of 600 Free Public APIs for Developers and Testers. All the public apis available on the intenert are listed down in this post. You do not go anywhere just go through your desire API and use it.

Animals

Anime

Anti-Malware

Art & Design

Books

Business

Calendar

Cloud Storage & File Sharing

Continuous Integration

Cryptocurrency

Currency Exchange

Data Validation

Development

Dictionaries

Documents & Productivity

Environment

Events

Finance

Food & Drink

Fraud Prevention

Games & Comics

Geocoding

Government

Health

Jobs

Machine Learning

Music

News

Open Data

Open Source Projects

Patent

Personality

Photography

Science & Math

Security

Shopping

Social

Sports & Fitness

Test Data

Text Analysis

Tracking

Transportation

URL Shorteners

Vehicle

Video

Weather

Via: Github

Facebook won’t fully control Libra, but instead get just a single vote in its governance like other founding members of the Libra Association including Visa, Uber, and Andreessen Horowitz who’ve invested at least $10 million each into the project’s operations. The association will promote the open-sourced Libra blockchain and developer platform with its own Move programming language plus sign up businesses to accept Libra for payment and even give customers discounts or rewards.

Facebook is launching a subsidiary company also called Calibra that handles its crypto dealings and protects users’ privacy by never mingling your Libra payments with your Facebook data so it can’t be used for ad targeting. Your real identity won’t be tied to your publicly visible transactions. But Facebook/Calibra and other founding members of the Libra Association will earn interest on the money users cash in that is held in reserve to keep the value of Libra stable.

Facebook’s audacious bid to create a global digital currency that promotes financial inclusion for the unbanked actually has more privacy and decentralization built in than many expected. Instead of trying to dominate Libra’s future or squeeze tons of cash out of it immediately, Facebook is instead playing the long-game by pulling payments into its online domain. Facebook’s VP of blockchain David Marcus explains the company’s motive and the tie-in with its core revenue source, telling me “if more commerce happens, then more small business will sell more on and off platform, and they’lll want to buy more ads on the platform so it will be good for our ads business.

How Does Libra Work?

By now you know the basics of Libra. Cash in a local currency, get Libra, spend them like dollars without big transaction fees or your real name attached, cash them out whenver you want. Feel free to stop reading and share this article if that’s all you care about. But the underlying technology, the association that governs it, the wallets you’ll use, and the way payments work all have a huge amount of fascinating detail to them. Facebook has released over 100 pages of documentation on Libra and Calibra, and we’ve pulled out the most important facts. Let’s dive in.

share (proportionate to their investment) of the dividends from interest earned on the Libra reserve users pay fiat currency into to receive Libra.

The 28 soon-to-be founding members of the association and their industries, previously reported by The Block’s Frank Chaparro, include:

• Payments: Mastercard, PayPal, PayU (Naspers’ fintech arm), Stripe, Visa
• Technology and marketplaces: Booking Holdings, eBay, Facebook/Calibra, Farfetch, Lyft, Mercado Pago, Spotify AB, Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Telecommunications: Iliad, Vodafone Group
• Blockchain: Anchorage, Bison Trails, Coinbase, Inc., Xapo Holdings Limited
• Venture Capital: Andreessen Horowitz, Breakthrough Initiatives, Ribbit Capital, Thrive Capital, Union Square Ventures
• Nonprofit and multilateral organizations, and academic institutions: Creative Destruction Lab, Kiva, Mercy Corps, Women’s World Banking

Facebook says it hopes to reach 100 founding members before the official Libra launch and it’s open to anyone that meets the requirements including direct competitors to like Google or Twitter.

To join, members must have a half rack of server space, a 100mbps or above dedicated internet connection, a full-time site reliability engineer, and enterprise-grade security. Businesses must hit two of three thresholds of a $1 billion USD market value or $500 million in customer balances, reach 20 million people a year, and/or be recognized as a top 100 industry leader by a group like Interbrand Global or the S&P.

Crypto-focused investors must have over $1 billion in assets under management, while Blockchain businesses must have been in business for a year, have enterprise grade security and privacy, and custody or staking greater than $100 million in assets. And only up to one-third of founding members can by crypto-related businesses or invidually invited exceptions. Facebook also accepts research organizations like universities, and non-profits fulfilling three of four qualties including working on financial inclusion for over five years, multi-national reach to lots of users, a top 100 designation by Charity Navigator or something like it, and/or $50 million in budget.The Libra Association will be responsible for picking recruiting more founding members to act as validator nodes for the blockchain, fundraising to jumpstart the ecosystem, designing incentive programs to reward early adopters, and doling out social impact grants. A council with a representative from each member will help choose the association’s managing director who will appoint an executive team, elect a board of 5 to 19 top representatives.

Each member including Facebook/Calibra will only get up to one vote or 1% of the total vote (whichever is larger) in the Libra Association council. This provides a level of decentralization that protects against Facebook or any other player hijacking Libra for its own gain.

The Libra Currency – A StablecoiA Libra is a unit of the Libra cryptocurrency that’s represented by a three wavy horizontal line unicode character ≋ like the dollar is represented by $. The value of a Libra is meant to stay largely stable so it’s a good medium of exchange since merchants can be confident they won’t be paid a Libra today that’s then worth less tomorrow. The Libra’s value is tied to a basket of bank deposits and short-term government securities for a slew of historically stable international currencies including the dollar, pound, europ, swiss franc, and yen. The Libra Association maintains this basket of assets and can change the balance of its composition if necessary to offset major price fluctuations in any one foreign currency so that the value of a Libra stays consistent.

The Libra Association is still hammering out the exact start value for the Libra, but it’s meant to somewhere close to the value of a dollar, euro, or pound so it’s easy to conceptualize. That way, a gallon of milk in the US might cost 3 to 4 Libra, similar but not exactly the same as with dollars.

The idea is that you’ll cash in some money and keep a balance of Libra that you can spend at accepting merchants and online services. You’ll be able to trade in your local currency for Libra and vice versa through certain wallet apps including Facebook’s Calibra, third-party wallet apps, and local resellers like convenience or grocery stores where people already go to top-up their mobile data plan.

The Libra Reserve – One For One

Each time someone cashes in a dollar or their respective local currency, that money goes into the Libra Reserve and an equivalent value of Libra is minted and doled out to that person. If someone cashes out from the Libra Association, the Libra they give back are destroyed/burned and they receive the equivalent value in their local currency back. That means there’s always 100% of the value of the Libra in circulation collateralized with real world assets in the Libra Reserve. It never runs fractional. And unliked “pegged” stable coins that are tied to a single currency like the USD, Libra maintains its own value — though that should cash out to roughly the same amount of a given currency over time.

When Libra Association members join and pay their $10 million minimum, they receive Libra Investment Tokens. Their share of the total tokens translates into the proportion of the dividend they earn off of interest on assets in the reserve. Those dividends are only paid out after Libra Association uses interest to pay for operating expenses, investments in the ecosystem, engineering research, and grants to non-profits and other organizations. This interest is part of what attracted the Libra Association’s members. If Libra becomes popular and many people carry a large balance of the currency, the reserve will grow huge and earn significant interest.

The Libra Blockchain – Built For Speed

Every Libra payment is permanently written into the Libra blockchain — a cryptographically authenticated database that acts as a public online ledger designed to handle 1000 transactions per second. The blockchain is operated and constantly verified by founding members of the Libra Association who each invested $10 million or more for a say in the cryptocurrency’s governance and the ability operate a validator node.

When a transaction is submitted, each of the nodes runs a calculation based on the existing ledger of all transactions. Thanks to a Byzantine Fault Tolerance system, just two-thirds of the nodes must come to consensus that the transaction is legitimate for it to be executed and written to the blockchain. A structure of Merkle Trees in the code makes it simple to recognize changes made to the Libra blockchain.

Transactions on Libra cannot be reversed. If an attack compromises over one-third of the validator nodes causing a fork in the blockchain, the Libra Association says it will temporarily halt transactions, figure out the extent of the damaage, and recommend software updates to resolve the fork.

Transactions aren’t entirely free. They incur a tiny fraction of a cent fee to pay for “gas” that covers the cost of processing the transfer of funds similar to with Ethereum. This fee will be negligible to most consumers, but when they add up the gas charges will deter bad actors from creating millions of transactions to power spam and denial-of-service attacks.

Move Coding Language – For Moving Libra

The Libra blockchain is open source with an Apache 2.0 license and any developer can build apps that work with it using the Move coding language. The blockchain’s prototype launches its testnet today, so it’s effectively in developer beta mode until it officially launches in the first half of 2020. The Libra Association is working with HackerOne to launch a bug bounty system later this year that will pay security researchers for safely identifying flaws and glitches. In the meantime, the Libra Association is implementing the Libra Core using the Rust programming language since it’s designed to prevent security vulnerabilities, and the Move language isn’t fully ready yet.

Move was created to make it easier to write blockchain code that follows an author’s intent without introducing bugs. It’s called Move because its primary function is to move Libra coins from one account to another, and never let those assets be accidentally duplicated. The core transaction code looks like:

LibraAccount.pay_from_sender(recipient_address, amount) procedure

Eventually, Move will be able to create smart contracts for programmatic interactions with the Libra blockchain. Until Move is ready, developers can create modules and transaction scripts for Libra using Move IR, which is high-level enough to be human-readable but low-level enough to be translatable into real Move bytecode that’s written to the blockchain.

The Libra ecosystem and the Move language will be completely open to use and build, which presents a sizable risk. Crooked developers could prey on crypto novices, claiming their app works just the same legitimate ones, and that it’s safe since it uses Libra. But if consumers get ripped off by these scammers, the anger will surely bubble up to Facebook. Even though it’s tried to distance itself sufficiently via its subsidiary Libra and the association, many people will probably always think of Libra as Facebook’s cryptocurrency and blame it for their woes.

Using Libra In The Wild – Calibra

So how do you actually own and spend Libra? Through Libra wallets like Facebook’s own Calibra and others that will be built by third-parties, potentially including Libra Association members like PayPal. The idea is to make sending money to a friend or paying for something as easy as sending a Facebook Message. You won’t be able to make or receive any real payments until the official launch next year, though.

None of the Libra Association members agreed to provide details on what they’ll build on the blockchain, but we can take Facebook’s Calibra wallet as an example of the basic experience. Calibra will launch alongside the Libra currency on iOS and Android within Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and a standalone app. When users first sign up, they’ll be taken through a Know Your Customer anti-fraud process where they’ll have to provide a government issued photo ID and other verification info. They’ll need to conduct due diligence on customers and report suspicious activity to the authorities.

From there you’ll be able to cash in to Libra, pick a friend or merchant, set an amount to send them and add a description, and send them Libra. You’ll also be able to request Libra. It’s also likely that Calibra will offer an expedited way of paying merchants, liking scanning your or their QR code.

Privacy – At Least From Facebook

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained some of the philosophy behind Libra and Calibra in a post today. “It’s decentralized — meaning it’s run by many different organizations instead of just one, making the system fairer overall. It’s available to anyone with an internet connection and has low fees and costs. And it’s secured by cryptography which helps keep your money safe. This is an important part of our vision for a privacy-focused social platform — where you can interact in all the ways you’d want privately, from messaging to secure payments.”

By default, Facebook won’t import your contacts or any of your profile information but may ask if you wish to do so. It also won’t share any of your transaction data back to Facebook, so it won’t used to target you with ads, rank your News Feed, or otherwise earn Facebook money directly. Data will only be shared in specific instances in aggregated, anonymized ways or due to a request from law enforcement.

In case you are hacked, scammed, or lose access to your account, Calibra will refund you for lost coins when possible through 24/7 chat support. Given Calibra will likely become the default wallet for many Libra users, this extra protection is essential.

For now, Calibra won’t make money. But Kevin Weil, the head of product for Facebook’s blockchain team, tells me that if it reaches scale, Facebook could launch other financial services through Calibra that it could monetize and it will definitely  increase the effect for facebook ads for local businesses

A Global Coin

If Facebook succeeds and legions of people cash in money for Libra, it and the other founding members of the Libra Association could earn big dividends on the interest. And if suddenly it becomes super quick to buy things through Facebook using Libra, businesses will boost their ad spend there. But if Libra gets hacked or proves unreliable, it could cost lots of people around the world money while souring them on cryptocurrencies. And by offering an open Libra platform, shady developers could build apps that snatch not just people’s personal info like Cambridge Analytica, but their hard-earned digital cash.

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