The Asian Age

LIBRA WOES

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Facebook revealed lofty plans to establish a cryptocurr­ency called Libra in June, but the project quickly ran into trouble with skeptical regulators around the world. Global regulators will question Facebook on Monday about its Libra cryptocurr­ency, amid concerns from European Union government­s over the threat the digital currency poses to financial stability, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

Facebook’s goal is for Libra to be run by an associatio­n of other corporate investors and non-profit members, with an expected launch in the first half of 2020. 26 including Officials central the banks, from U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, will meet with representa­tives of Libra in Basel on Monday, the FT said, citing officials.

Opposition deepened on Friday, when both France and Germany pledged to block Libra from operating in Europe and backed the developmen­t of a public cryptocurr­ency instead.

Libra will be a digital currency backed by a reserve of real-world assets, including bank deposits and shortterm government securities, and held by a network of custodians. The structure is intended to foster trust and stabilize the price.

Libra transactio­ns will be powered and recorded by a blockchain, which is a shared ledger of transactio­ns maintained by a network of computers.

Individual­s It will be available as and merchants a standalone app on will be able to smartphone­s, as well as use Calibra to a button within store, send and Facebook’s Messenger receive Libras. and WhatsApp products.

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