Facebook’s Libra token could be set for the final January launch, 18 months after its announcement. The new LIBRA coin could be vastly different from the original concept. This also means that it may be backed only by the dollar instead of a basket of currencies.
Facebook’s Libra token gained global headlines when it started its whitepaper in June 2019. A year and a half of confusion later, including government pushback and backers pulling out. It might finally be ready for release. But what will it look like, and how will it relate to its original implementation?
Libra Could Launch in January After All the Roadblocks
After 18 months of disruptions, alterations, and complications, The Financial Times reported on Friday that Facebook’s Libra token could finally see the light of day in January next year. When Facebook went live last June 2019 with its concept for Libra, politicians and central banks worldwide balked at the idea of a private, centralized currency being used in the same way as fiat currencies.
Founder Mark Zuckerberg has been dragged over the coals by congress, and institutional backers have left the Libra Association. More critically, Libra has had to be adapted to get it past regulators and even have a sniff at being launched.
Facebook Shifts Focus and Goes Dollar-only
Libra was initially suggest to be a single coin backed by a basket of existing currencies, but the Libra Association modified this in April after regulatory pushback. They indicated that the alternative of many currencies plus a “digital composite.” But, Financial Times understands that this has now been deferred in favor of a single dollar-backed stablecoin.
While regulators will be content with the new Libra, which falls in line with the idea of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the move to a move to single-currency coin work out worse for Facebook users thinking to convert currencies, given swinging exchange rates and associated costs, which would significantly undermine the company’s aim of financial inclusion.
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