On June 18, 2019 Facebook announced that it is going to launch a global
digital currency by the first half of 2020.
The currency has been named Libra.
It will be run by the Libra Association, a Geneva-based entity that has over two dozen founding partners, including Facebook, Mastercard, Visa, Uber and the Vodafone group.
Almost immediately, concerns were raised by some lawmakers, commentators and even the co-founder of Facebook, Chris Hughes, who is now one of the foremost critics of the social media network he helped create.
A white paper released by the Libra Association says its mission “is to enable a simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people”.
The point it makes is this: in a world with cheap data and smartphones, about 1.7 billion adults are still outside the organised financial system in the world. This, despite a billion of them having mobile phones and nearly half a billion having Internet access.
The reasons for this are high fees, lack of access, and absence of documentation. Libra is being pitched as a solution to this. The promise is of financial inclusion on a global scale.
The currency has been named Libra.
It will be run by the Libra Association, a Geneva-based entity that has over two dozen founding partners, including Facebook, Mastercard, Visa, Uber and the Vodafone group.
Almost immediately, concerns were raised by some lawmakers, commentators and even the co-founder of Facebook, Chris Hughes, who is now one of the foremost critics of the social media network he helped create.
A white paper released by the Libra Association says its mission “is to enable a simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people”.
The point it makes is this: in a world with cheap data and smartphones, about 1.7 billion adults are still outside the organised financial system in the world. This, despite a billion of them having mobile phones and nearly half a billion having Internet access.
The reasons for this are high fees, lack of access, and absence of documentation. Libra is being pitched as a solution to this. The promise is of financial inclusion on a global scale.
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