#Libra & #Calibra: Facebook’s herculean leap in global payment system
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San Francisco, Jun 18: Facebook, the tech giant is always engaged in the welfare of netizens and safe internet. Now Facebook is taking a big jump in the global payment system. Today, Facebook Inc. unveiled plans to establish a cryptocurrency called ‘Libra’ with digital wallet ‘Calibra’.
This cryptocurrency will be run by an association comprised of other corporate investors and non-profit members, with an expected launch in the 1st half of 2020.
Here are all the details about ‘Libra’ and ‘Calibra’ -
- ‘Libra’ will be a digital currency which will be backed by a reserve of real-world assets, including bank deposits and short-term government securities, and held by a network of custodians. The structure is intended to foster trust and stabilize the price.
- Although Libra prices may not always align with the underlying assets, holders should have a “high degree of assurance” that they can convert coins into traditional currency based on an exchange rate, according to the project’s information.
- Libra transactions will be powered and recorded by a blockchain, which is a shared ledger of transactions maintained by a network of computers. The software will be “open source,” meaning companies outside the association can build applications on top of it. The association plans to move toward a permissionless blockchain within five years of Libra’s launch.
- The Libra Association is a 28-member independent non-profit based in Geneva, Switzerland. It will oversee major decisions about the digital coin. There is a minimum $10 million investment to join, except for non-profit members like financial inclusion group Kiva. The association aims to have 100 members by launch.
- Each will have one vote on important issues. Facebook will be a member via Calibra, a newly created subsidiary that will offer a digital wallet for Libra.
‘Calibre’ is useful for Individuals and merchants will be able to use to store, send and receive Libras. It will be available as a standalone app on smartphones, as well as a button within Facebook’s Messenger and WhatsApp products.
Facebook eventually wants to make Calibra available for transactions across its family of apps, such as digital checkouts for purchases on Instagram.
Executives envision users purchasing Libra through the app either by linking a bank account or, for people without banks, at physical locations like cash transfer businesses and convenience stores. Calibra engineers are involved in building the blockchain, though Facebook says it intends to keep the currency and the wallet in separate entities.
About Privacy and Security, Calibra will provide support to customers who lose phones or their passwords, and refund customers whose Libras are stolen by fraudsters, Facebook said.
Calibra will only share user data with parent company Facebook and third parties when it has customer consent, or in other “limited cases,” such as when law enforcement requests information, according to a statement.