Facebook has unveiled its new digital currency ‘Libra’. The social networking company is teaming up with great companies across the world to roll out this cryptocurrency targeted at the unbanked. The digital currency aims to provide seamlessly cheap and secured payments. It will be accessed through smartphones across the world displacing the traditional financial solution.
Calibra will be the platform that will introduce a digital wallet for Libra and it will be available on Messenger, WhatsApp and as a standalone app. Libra Association—the association of all the founding members, will govern the platform. The Libra Association will promote an open-source Libra Blockchain and developer platform.
Calibra will protect all users’ dealings and privacy, as they plan to separate all Libra payments from users Facebook data to prevent ad targeting. It also plans to separate real identity from publicly visible transactions. Facebook and the Libra Association will earn interest from user’s cash held in reserve.
To pull off this digital currency project, Facebook enlisted the help of trusted partners to help bring the project to life. The partners are the founding members that make up the Libra Association. The association is a not-for-profit group that will oversee the development of the token, the reserve of the real-world assets that give it value, and the governance of the blockchain rules. Each founding member contributed the sum of $10 million each for a seat on the board. They each gain access to a vote in the Libra Association council.
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The 28 founding members according to TechCrunch 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 revealed that it aims to reach 100 founding members before the official Libra launch in 2020. The association is open – even to Google and Twitter, and anyone who meets the requirement. The Association will be based in Geneva, Switzerland.