Thread: Facebook plans to launch own cryptocurrency called Libra

Facebook Calibra digital wallet app
An artist's impression of what the Calibra digital wallet app might look like.


Facebook plans to launch a cryptocurrency called Libra next year as part of its wider efforts to expand beyond social networking and into e-commerce and global payments.

Key points:

• Facebook says it will launch Libra in the first half of 2020
• The new cryptocurrency will be connected to messaging platforms Messenger and WhatsApp
• Facebook is currently facing several scandals over its handling of "fake news" and users' information

Facebook said it had linked with 28 partners to form Libra Association, a Geneva-based entity governing its new digital coin, which will be launched in the first half of 2020.

The California-based company has also created Calibra, a subsidiary which will offer digital wallets connected to messaging platforms Messenger and WhatsApp to save, send and spend Libras, which will be backed by government-backed assets.

Facebook is betting it can squeeze revenue out of its messaging services through transactions and payments, something already happening on Chinese social apps like WeChat.

"Combining transaction data from the Calibra app with the social data that Facebook and WhatsApp and Instagram has, that's where the treasure trove is," Teunis Brosens, ING's lead economist for digital finance and regulation in Amsterdam, said.

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