Putting an end to all the rumors and speculation, Facebook has finally unveiled its plan to make some strong footprints in the cryptocurrency market. The company will launch a digital wallet by the name of Calibra which use a new cryptocurrency called Libra.
Facebook has been working on the front of building its own cryptocurrency for some time now. It is majorly reported that the company received backing from some finance giants like Mastercard, Paypal, Visa, eBay, Lyft, and Uber for its goal of digital currency. The company has said in its official statement that it has plans to launch the Facebook wallet Calibra in 2020, and the service will be available on WhatsApp, and Messenger, as well as in a standalone app.
Facebook said it is intended to offer Libra to 2.7 billion existing users of Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp services.
Calibra is going to be a subsidiary of Facebook and will operate independently. This move has shocked the existing players of the digital wallets, as this statement implies that Facebook is coming to stay here and by seeing its big subscriber base, it will be a force to be reckoned with. The ability to harness WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, is already an extra edge for Calibra to perform in this competitive marketplace.
User Privacy
To maintain the privacy of users, Facebook says that Libra Association has 28 founding members including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Uber, Lyft, and Coinbase on board in Geneva, Switzerland. The association will oversee the major decisions about the digital coin.
Like most digital wallets, Facebook wallet Calibra will have to go through a ‘know your customer process, in which verified user identifies to prevent financial fraud. It implies that the user must have a government-registered ID proof to use Calibra.
The company will not share any account information or financial data with Facebook or any other third party without customer consent. This statement also means that Calibra customers’ account information and financial data will not be used for ad targeting on Facebook.
Technology
All the transactions of Libra will be powered and recorded by a blockchain, which is a shared ledger of transactions maintained by a large network of computers. Its governance will be different from bitcoin because only entities authorized by the governing association will run the computers. The software will be “open source”, which means companies outside the association can build applications on top of it.
The Wallet
Users of Facebook wallet Calibra, either Individuals or merchants will be able to store, send and receive Libras. Facebook has some strong plans to make Calibra available for transactions across its family of apps.
Bottom Line
Facebook is promising a lot of things with its digital wallet Calibra and cryptocurrency Libra, like its global connectivity, high privacy, and high-end technology. Now we just have to wait and watch how things will unfold for this new development, and how Facebook will counter the issues raised by some of the nations, which are its biggest subscribers.
