[ad_1]
The initiative aims to ensure that millions of people worldwide without access to banks can integrate their smartphones into the financial system.
The "Balance", described as "new world currency", was presented Tuesday by the largest social network in the world as a means of payment able to get the cryptocurrency out of the shadows.
Facebook and about two dozen partners have unveiled a Libra prototype as an open source for developers interested in including it in applications, services and businesses before launching it as a digital currency. next year.
A Geneva-based nonprofit organization will oversee Libra's blockchain technology to maintain monetary stability. This organization is integrated, among others, by issuers of credit cards such as Mastercard and Visa, transport companies such as Uber Lift and even by the organization Women's World Banking which helps disadvantaged women.
The initiative aims to ensure that more than one billion people worldwide without access to banks can rely on online commercial and financial services, "said Dante Disparte, Policy and Communications Manager for Canada. Libra Association.
"If people have the opportunity to access money and opportunities at the lowest cost, which in part allows the Internet to have information, it will be much more stable than what we have had. until now, "he said.
"Sending money to a friend should not be more difficult than sending it home to Uber," said Peter Hazlehurst, Uber's Payments and Risks Manager.
Facebook will only be one of the members of the badociation, but separately prepares its own digital wallet called Calibra.
"We believe this is part of Facebook's mission to connect people around the world, including allowing them to share values," said Tomer Barel, vice president of Calibra.
"Many Facebook users are in countries where there are barriers to accessing banks or credit," he said.
Calibra is under development to be included in Messenger and WhatsApp in order to allow users to send the Balance currency with the same ease as a text message.
Real money backup
The Governor of the Central Bank of England, Mark Carney, and the French Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, did not oppose the principle of Libra, but demanded measures of backup.
Libra "can not and should not become a sovereign currency, with all the attributes of a currency", such as the ability to issue sovereign debt and serve as a reserve currency, said Le Mayor, before indicating that the issue should be discussed within the G7 Finance next month.
ING economists, Teunis Brosens and Carlo Cocuzzo, explained that we still did not know what Libra is and how to monitor it.
"Since Libra is not denominated in a national currency but reflects a basket of currencies, it will probably be safer," they said.
"This brings us directly to the discussion that has been haunting crypto-currencies for years: is it a title or something else?", They added.
Libra has learned from other crypto-currencies, such as Bitcoin, and has been designed to avoid the sudden shocks to virtual currencies that are a source of speculation and ruin.
The real money used to buy Libra will be the reserve and the guarantee of virtual money, whose value will reflect that of stable currencies such as the dollar and the euro, according to its creators.
"It will be backed by an badet pool that ensures profits and low volatility," Barel said.
The Libra badociation will be the only entity capable of inventing or engraving digital currency, aligning supply with demand and creating reserve badets, according to Barel.
"It's not a matter of trusting Facebook, but an badociation formed by independent and democratic organizations," said Disparte.
New directions
The launch comes as Facebook tries to recover the credibility and trust lost after a series of scandals related to the leakage of private data.
Managing Director Mark Zuckerberg has promised to put Facebook on a new direction that will focus on private messages and electronic payments.
The new Calibra digital wallet promises to give Facebook the opportunity to include financial services, e-commerce and more small businesses buy advertising.
Calibra users' financial information is strictly separate from Facebook's data and will not be used for advertising purposes, said Kevin Weil, vice president of Calibra.
Libya will be a regulated currency, subject to local laws on fraud and money laundering, according to Weil.
For those who can not rely on banks, their local currency can be exchanged for Libra in exchange offices or companies offering these services.
And the omnipresence of cell phones offers Libra's digital wallets the opportunity to expand banking, credit card and online commerce in areas where they do not exist yet.
Source link
