Zuckerberg came with his new idea of a global currency which works on the priciples of blockchain. Libra is cryptocurrency proposed by facebook but hasnt been released yet.Only the experimental codes and whitepaper has been published.In270 May 2018, it was revealed that Facebook is establishing a blockchain division that would run under the supervision of David Marcus, who had earlier overseen the creation of Facebook Messenger.
Libra is aiming to help the unbanked population which amounts to billions.The service is set to send money through whatsapp. Facebook's initial plan to launch in India is facing the challenge as India announced that Libra may not be even legal in the country.
Libra is built on a secure and reliable blockchain,it is a stablecoin and is governed by the libra association.Its smart contract programming is done through 'Move' programming language.Facebook has built a digital wallet called “Calibra” which will be used to interact with Libra. Users will be able to send Libra via their smartphones by using Calibra.
The difference between Libra and other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is that Libra is a stablecoin that is its is backed by physical assets called the Libra reserve which include real assets like bank deposits,and securities which are less volatile.This means that Libra is not volatile like bicoin.Another thing is that libra is looked over by the Libra association which makes it a permissioned cryptocurrency.So303 Libra is not decentralized in essence but bitcoin is decentralized.
Libra was slated to release in the beginning of 2020 but it faced huge backlash with , Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Booking Holdings, eBay, Stripe and Mercado Pago, announcing their withdrawals from Libra over the past week, with some citing concerns over the regulatory problems faced by the project.Also major banks which provided initial support are also withdrawing their support.So329 Facebooks Libra is awaiting its fate.But even if Libra doesn't make it, they have done their part in shifting the global focus to digital currencies based on blockchain.Major central banks across the world has set up their own teams to study the possibility of a digital currency.Blockchain is going to be the future.