Sources: Facebook plans to use digital versions of government-backed currencies along with its Libra token for its Calibra wallet when it is launched in October
Nine months after Facebook's June 2019 Libra announcement created Calibra to run its financial services, the wallet's shape is coming into focus: rather than a Libra-only app, sources say it will also hold digital versions of government-backed currencies when it launches in October. That builds on the original distribution plan — a standalone iOS and Android wallet embedded in WhatsApp and Messenger — but quietly rewrites the thesis, from replacing sovereign money to inter operating with it.
Calibra's October launch becomes a multi-currency wallet: users in countries issuing digital government money could hold it alongside Libra in WhatsApp and Messenger, not just the private token.
The Libra Association's basket-currency pitch is effectively demoted — Libra ships as one asset among several rather than the wallet's centerpiece.
Second-order effects
Central banks and national payment systems gain an unexpected distribution channel through Facebook's messaging apps, shifting the negotiation from 'will you permit Libra' to 'will you plug your currency in.'
Regulators pressing Calibra on AML and taxation get new leverage: a wallet that carries sovereign digital currencies must clear national compliance bars market by market.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds — and the later retreat to a single dollar-backed coin suggests it does — private wallets evolve into rails for state-issued digital currency, with jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction product design replacing any global private currency ambition.
The trend: Consumer crypto wallets are shifting from issuing private currencies to inter operating with government-backed digital money, with regulators' per-country demands dictating the product.
Libra changes! Kowtowing to regulators, Facebook plans to offer digital versions of existing currencies through its apps, rather than a new synthetic currency (but the original concept isn't totally dead either!). Read all about it: https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
Wait what? You won't use your own digital currency >> Facebook has decided not to make the proposed Libra currency available on its own services for the time being https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
The new Facebook wallet strategy is much better than the original one. It's just a matter of time before @calibra sneaks the @libra_ token into a product available to billions https://www.theblockcrypto.com/ ...
Important update to story, after talking to Facebook (which originally declined to comment). It WILL support the original Libra token concept in its wallet. But expect it to emphasize the new digital government currencies it plans to introduce https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
The Information is reporting that Facebook is “scaling back” plans for its cryptocurrency Libra and instead focusing on digital versions of existing govt-backed currencies for now - FB isn't commenting yet. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
There it is: $FB scales back #Libra plans. will not make libra currency available on its own services “for the time being” and will delay digital wallet rollout “by several months” https://www.theinformation.com/ ... @theinformation
I have gone from basically understanding what Facebook is doing with Libra to, as of today, having absolutely no idea https://www.theinformation.com/ ... (good scoop @alexeheath)