Facebook's LIBRA- A Short Explanation in Layman's Term



In this day and age, Cryptocurrency is making its way to the limelight. The likes of bitcoin, ethereum, and electroneum suddenly became the household names especially these past few months. Joining in the roster of digital currency is Facebook's new cryptocurrency called LIBRA.

But is it really another Cryptocurrency? Well, Facebook would like to call it digital currency, which is just wearing the same dress as cryptocurrency. The purpose of Libra is to provide financial services to billions of people around the world. And what exactly are these financial services?  Here's the explanation.

Just like Cryptocurrency, Libra has its own digital wallet, or should I say wallets. The currency can be kept in Facebook's very own Messenger, Whatsapp and a standalone application called CALIBRA. Using the same technology as the blockchain used by bitcoin, Facebook will run its own encrypted network, but unlike bitcoin, Libra is not volatile because its value is stable as it is backed by financial reserves. Calibra, as a wallet, will handle all the transactions.

How about security and privacy? Is it wise to integrate social media into your financial data?

Facebook has already addressed this issue and they ensured that Calibra is a whole new application and has nothing to do with the social media aspect of the company. So it's safe to say that Calibra is just a subsidiary company of Facebook and will never be integrated with its social media platform.

Aside from Facebook, there are  27 other companies involved in this new digital currency like eBay, PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, Spotify, Women's World Banking, Kiva, Booking Holdings, Andreessen Horrowitz, Farfetch, iliad, Uber, PayU, Mercado Pago, Coinbase, BisonTrails, and more.

Libra will be available in early 2020. Is this good or bad? Will it function beyond Cryptocurrency?Well, let's wait and see how will this affect us in the future.

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