Business im to now the law and in berlin welcome now can facebook take cryptocurrency mainstream the Worlds Largest social network is reportedly unveiling the digital coin it plans to roll out next year proponents say it could revolutionize Digital Payment systems under a single streamlined currency the project is called libra according to media reports over a dozen global firms will invest in and govern the currency like master card bought a phone and mover this group will supposedly wall off control of the currency from facebook itself the coin will be pegged to a basket of global currencies like the dollar and the euro to protect it from the fluctuation that has hit big but will i catch on facebook thats the scale of the social network and its services with 2400000000 monthly users will forge a new marketplace for streamline purchases and exchanges so a lot of big claims there but is it a good idea to trust facebook with their finances earlier today i spoke to tom a shot head of marketing at lisk a blog chain app platform and i asked him why facebook is doing this in the 1st place. I think were seeing a huge shift from big tech firms moving into the tech space we all know now with apple pay google pay some soon pay and now facebook is also moving into that space and i think that theyre shaking up traditional finances and the reason why i think facebook is doing this is to find better users further into the ecosystem potentially adds new Revenue Streams and i think also most important in mind more user data on the our behavior is what drives us in our purchases online and old this gives them even more power. Well because thats what they really did write more power but you know for our viewers how will it work what does it actually means have an embedded on your instagram yeah i think the under who the technicalities still need to be communicating deep still but i think what 40 average user of all those years of facebook what it will mean is that one day you open up replication and says hey updated both invest up a mobile and there will be a small i can you present it in the in a menu bar would says like triple wall ads or Facebook Cornwell really brought wallets and that i think it will be very easy for people to well purchase things for instagram for example or say each other money payback for coffee over whatsapp cetera now we touched briefly on the issue of trust because you know facebook of course is an enjoying the best reputation these days those partners that we mentioned theyve also seen some criticism as well and i would like to read out this tweet from a few days ago just because it was widely read tweeted now Sarah Jane Lewis the executive director of open privacy says cant wait for a crypto currency with the ethics of the censorship resistance of pay pal the centralisation of these are all tied together under the proven privacy of facebook now of course this is a bit of sarcasm its a comment on the power that platforms how it over their lives and the potential to abuse it especially when Banking Details are in the mix so what is your take yeah i cant help to kind of agree with this tweet. To a certain extent i think those companies have proven not to put privacy and individual on their top of their list of priorities its somewhat concerning thing that money is one of the most sensitive and private topics having such a Company Getting more financial data. Is is concerning just like a regular bank you have to trust facebook to a certain extent just like Network Operators were mentioned before and i think that in the past we separated church from states i think we are i would be going separating states from money and i think in the future well. Keep Big Tech Companies separated from money as well so with this new initiative does that actually mean facebook is going to act like its own central bank in a way for its users i think in fact facebook is competing with commercial banks way more damage its going yes would you use libero. If theres a very specific use case for libro to really improve my User Experience for example to purchase things online i might buy some liberal coins in the future but i will never buy celery or my bitcoins inside the libor going well what do you think it would mean you know for a bit coin or the crypto currency landscape in general briefly if you can yeah i think. I think its only is is better for crypto currency in general thing we will its a stepping stone towards the real deal decentralized here and see what the future likely is and like bitcoin i think what is most important is that the creation of those wallets inside an application of people from miller with really made people comfortable with digital cure and sees it go beyond the normal cure and security are used to like the euro and the dollar fascinating thank you so much Thomas Shelton head of marketing at lisk good to have you with us a german scheme to charge a motorway toll has been found to preach laws that blocks top court has ruled thats in response to a lawsuit filed by austria germany had planned to introduce the tolls next year and hope the tolls that raise half a 1000000000 euros more each year for road maintenance and do something about traffic congestion. Traffic jams are an increasingly common sight on german ultra bonds the roads are free of charge for cars but lawmakers having to change that by introducing tolls for private vehicles and that would bring germany into line with most countries in europe the rules differ greatly so far its been road taxes that have paid for german highways but that gave motorists little incentive to limit their use but neighboring austria so the german told plan as discriminating against foreign drivers and thats because everyone would have to pay it but germans would get the money back into rectally through reduced road taxes making the effective price higher for foreigners and now the European Court of justice has agreed that that is discriminatory. Foundry followed the proceedings for us and joins us now from luxembourg balland was this decision expected. A little surprised today that the court actually ruled that the scheme is nil and void and that the total on the autobahns would not come as planned next year and the court is not following the general approach that shes beautiful. But anyway the court handed a major victory in austria and its embarrassing for the German Government because the store was in the making for at least 5 years. But does this mean then that the motorway scheme is officially dead in the water or where it doesnt go from here. Its the as planned cannot happen because the court says its you could write for every european citizen is the model of the German Government came up with an especially the very in c. Is to the conservative party that it does not vote its illegal so of course the German Government can now play and you told model but the model that you reimburse judgment car drivers and charge only for knows this is not working. Boundaries are there in luxembourg for us thank you very much businesses hate uncertainty exhibit a might be the american firms are bracing for yet another round of import tariffs on chinese goods should they re anja near long established supply chains or wait for a resolution to the trade dispute either way theyre losing money and many are now asking the Trump Administration for an end to terrorists. For Many American companies this is one step too far the prospect of a 25 percent levy on 300000000000. 00 worth of Chinese Consumer goods has prompted the u. S. Chamber of commerce to call for him to taunt what words mean is rather than more tariffs than an escalation both sides need to come back to the table they need to get back to the point where we were you know roughly 2 months ago they need to finish this deal and if they finish this deal that will be good for both near term and long Term Economic growth particularly here in the United States the proposed additional tire of could make a huge range of products including toys more expensive. Last week hundreds of Companies Including retail giant walmart wrote to u. S. President donald trump warning that a fresh levy would put jobs on the line and harm the u. S. Economic growth and its not only importers that are worried agricultural exports have already been hit by chinas retire the tree tara. Is certainly causing businesses to relook at their supply chain and their structure but thats obviously easier said than done right in many cases youre talking about long standing complicated supply chains relationships based on quality assurances and things theyve been worked out over a significant period of time you cant simply just pick that up and move it to somewhere else many are now hoping that the g 20 summit in japan later this month will offer a platform for a deescalation in tensions between the worlds top 2 economies. Those trade tensions are just adding to uncertainty as the Federal Reserve plans to meet today the u. S. Central bank has been facing new demands from president trying to cut Interest Rates its expected to leave borrowing costs unchanged this time but investors that will be watching to see a fed chief Jerome Powell signals that a rate cut will be late will be likely later this year appears toward. Joins us now from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange daniel do investors anticipate that growing pressure on the fed will mean a rate hike eventually. Well hi there jim when you talk about the unemployment numbers in the u. S. And also how the u. S. Economy is growing investors do believe that in the near future Interest Rate hikes are possible for the moment they do believe that the fed will leave them as you mentioned on change but this is certainly a big topic here among investors because of the uncertainty we do believe that investors will be a little bit more reluctant until we know the final answer the blue chip index that is expected to open in the red this morning lets talk quickly about the growing pressure of the u. S. President mr trump has been a very direct even though he was the one who appointed a drone powell the head of the Federal Reserve he believes that higher Interest Rates are wrong and comments made by u. S. President that direct about a certain issue like that are very unusual done there in frankfurt for us thank you very much. The french israeli billionaire behind telecoms and media group tese has agreed to buy the world famous auction house souther b s t c o patrick draw he offered 57. 00 a share making the deal worth 3 point 7000000000. 00 so will cease other visa return to private hands after 31 years as a Public Company traded on the new york market and the auction house says the acquisition will allow it to accelerate its growth in a more flexible private environment. And thats it from me and the Business Team here in berlin for more Business News and features a checkout d. W. Dot com slash business or follow us on social media at the w underscore business thank you very much for watching im john elgamal and. Sometimes books more exciting than real unless. Youre all. Foresters to ski. In the streets. Her 1st day of school in the jungle. Doris crane the moment arrives. Joint direct attack on her journey back to freedom. In our interactive documentary. Maintain returns home on the w. Dot com. Hello and a warm welcome to our arts and culture news a focus on Classical Music is our plan for todays show with a special guest american tenor Michael Fabiano will join me in the studio right after we see what else is lined up. Its a bicentennial year for romantic composer clown a show month and german greek pianist dunaway dokken pays her a fitting tribute. And for your Summer Reading list in our continuing series 100 german must read youve got a wrong through 1990 s. Berlin in the seasonally apropos novel made the summer night. Well its one of the most beloved all prisons around just epa verities rigoletto the tale of the skirt chasing duke of mantua who seduced is the innocent daughter all of a court jester never fails to draw a crowd its melodious its tragic and never short on sexy which is why a new production is always an event like for instance the recent premier here at berlin state all with Michael Fabiano in the role of the duke. The