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Aya Lin · · 1 min readIn brief: Facebook to launch own cryptocurrency Libra by 2020
- Facebook announced its global cryptocurrency Libra will launch in 2020, making transactions with the cryptocurrency available through a subsidiary company called Calibra, which will live inside Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and a standalone app, The Verge reported.
- Payments companies such as Mastercard, PayPal, PayU, Stripe, and Visa were recruited to become founding members of the Libra Association, which oversees the coin’s development, alongside companies such as ride-hailing giant Uber, online travel Booking Holdings, music streaming platform Spotify, and Hong Kong’s bitcoin wallet Xapo.
- The social media company also looks to add more members to the Libra Association before the token officially launches next year.
- “You’ll see banks on this between now and next year, because if we bring on another billion people, they’ll need savings accounts, loans, and things banks are very good at,” said Facebook’s blockchain chief David Marcus, adding that the company plans to work with financial institutions with Libra, instead of against them.
Editing by Eileen C. Ang
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