Earlier today Engadget made a post about Facebook's upcoming Libra cryptocurrency that will use Facebook's Calibra wallet. Both of these are expected to be launched sometime in 2020 backed by giants such as Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Uber amongst other major companies.
Almost half of the adults in the world don't have an active bank account, and those numbers are worse in developing countries and even worse for women," Facebook said. "The cost of that exclusion is high -- for example, approximately 70 percent of small businesses in developing countries lack access to credit, and $25 billion is lost by migrants every year through remittance fees."
You can use Libra crypto with a standalone app as well as through Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. You can load your funds easily using their list of payment providers. It should enable one to do it on the go anywhere in the world. I wonder if it would solve the issue of currency exchanges and the cost involved in it. It's too early for that I guess.
Of course, it's no secret that Facebook doesn't have the best reputation when it comes to protecting people's privacy, but the company says that's why it helped create the Libra Association. This organization is intended to oversee the Libra digital currency, independently of Facebook. And while Facebook will get to vote on matters surrounding Libra, it won't have any more power than other members.
The Libra Association, which will be based in Geneva, Switzerland, is made up of 28 companies right now, but Facebook says it expects to have over 100 members backing Calibra and Libra by the time they launch in 2020.
There's more text in the original article and you could read that over there.
Coming to the question of what India will do when this product from Facebook Launches is anyone's guess. To be honest every government agency that deals with income or money in any sort of way wants cryptocurrency banned in the country.
None of them have shown any positive outlook towards cryptos since RBI sent out it's initial warnings in 2013. No one in the government in their official capacity wants crypto to be legalised, let alone become legal tender.
Our government may not be as progressive as we assume it is, the thought that every agency of our govt wants to ban crypto is extremely regressive and it's likely that the government may ban these apps or features in India. Facebook being a centralised organisation may even adhere to the instructions from the government.
Today, we cannot donate over FB to fundraisers in other countries, similarly we may not be able to use Libra within the boundaries of our country if the govt has it's way.
Ofcourse, i'm speculating now because till date there's no real policy on cryptos and blockchain tech. Everything that is possible in India isn't known until we have an official confirmation of a draft bill from the government and it gets released into the public domain for a review.
For now i'm quite excited by the updates on Facebook's crypto project. I'd like to see if this will help bring mainstream users to crypto and get them to use decentralised cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
Because as of now, people are quite worried about using crypto, if Facebook's version makes it easier for people to warm upto it and it helps create new markets for cryptos then it might be worth a chance.
Also, as with any of this, it will be opt-in. So those of you who hate Facebook won't have to use it. :)
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