- Facebook and 27 other members on June 18, 2019 unveiled ‘Libra’ which is described as “a new global currency”.
- They released a prototype of Libra as an open source code to be used by developers interested in weaving it into apps, services or businesses ahead of a rollout as global digital money next year.
- It is designed to let people save, send or spend money as easily as firing off text messages.
- It is a new initiative in payments for the world’s biggest social network with the potential to bring crypto-money out of the shadows and into the mainstream.
- Libra Association based in Geneva will oversee the blockchain-based Libra, maintaining a real-world asset reserve to keep its value stable.
- As per the report, the initiative has the potential to allow more than a billion “unbanked” people around the world access to online commerce and financial services .
- Apart from Facebook, some other group members are Mastercard, Visa, Stripe, Kiva, PayPal, Lyft, Uber and Women’s World Banking.
- Since Libra is the product of many organisations including Facebook that is why Facebook is separately building a digital wallet called Calibra.
