Libra: Some of the world's largest companies have come together to create their own cryptocurrency that they hope will become a new global currency to compete with the US dollar, a decade after the launch of bitcoin.
The Libra currency is backed by 28 companies, including PayPal, Mastercard and Visa , and will be rolled out by Facebook to WhatsApp, Messenger and other apps so people can spend and receive money through their phones.
Technology has made almost everything more accessible, except money. 1.7 billion people in the world are not actively shopping online, or 31% of the global population, and for those who do have access to money transfers, they are very slow, with a typical cross-border payment taking three to five business days to complete and the costs being high.
Libra claims to be able to solve these issues of traditional currencies, while also overcoming the barriers of bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies to mass adoption.
Facebook's David Marcus, who spearheaded the development of Libra, said the mission of the new cryptocurrency is to create a "simple global currency and financial infrastructure that will empower billions of people."
According to the 'Future of Money' research, emerging markets would be faster to adopt a currency like Libra than more developed countries. In these markets, people are more financially aware because they should be, which means they understand the benefits that new coins can offer. If a cryptocurrency can provide a safer and cheaper means of exchange than the existing system, it will be used.
The new cryptocurrency has been rumored since 2018, when Facebook created its own blockchain team to explore ways to use the technology.
With more than 2 billion Facebook-owned app users worldwide, many have heralded Libra's potential to become the world's first mainstream cryptocurrency, yet others have questioned the motivations behind the initiative.
