Facebook Unveils Plans To Launch Own Cryptocurrency, Digital Wallet By 2020

Facebook announced on Tuesday plans to launch a new cryptocurrency called Libra by 2020 and create a digital wallet for it as part of an ambitious effort to make basic financial services more accessible around the world

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th June, 2019) Facebook announced on Tuesday plans to launch a new cryptocurrency called Libra by 2020 and create a digital wallet for it as part of an ambitious effort to make basic financial services more accessible around the world.

"Today we're sharing plans for Calibra, a newly formed Facebook subsidiary whose goal is to provide financial services that will let people access and participate in the Libra network. The first product Calibra will introduce is a digital wallet for Libra, a new global currency powered by blockchain technology. The wallet will be available in Messenger, WhatsApp and as a standalone app � and we expect to launch in 2020," Facebook said in a statement.

The social media giant expects that the new digital currency will help resolve the problem of inaccessibility of "even basic financial services" that many people across the world face.

"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.

The cost of that exclusion is high � approximately 70% of small businesses in developing countries lack access to credit and $25 billion is lost by migrants every year through remittance fees," the statement noted.

The Calibra digital wallet will, in turn, enable its users to "send Libra to almost anyone with a smartphone, as easily and instantly as you might send a text message and at low to no cost," according to Facebook.

The social media giant also plans to offer new services in the future such as paying bills or rides on public transport and making other purchases with "the push of a button" or "the scan of a code."

Earlier in June, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources, that Facebook was going to announce a new cryptocurrency, and that Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Uber Technologies would invest some $10 million each in a consortium that would govern the digital coin.