Libra attempts a return with several corners and less ambition

Faced with opposition from regulators, Facebook has deeply revised its ambitions downwards. Libra now wants to be a closed payment system. Forgotten (almost) on stablecoin single for the benefit of multiple local electronic currencies.

The states had been clear: Libra should not see the light of day as imagined by Facebook and its partners of the Libra Association. The social network has therefore reviewed its copy, as suggested it from March sources.

Goodbye Libra, a stablecoin whose value was based on a basket of currencies. Or rather, cryptocurrency, thought for transfers between countries, is accompanied by multiple other currencies (coins). Each of them is thus linked to a regulated currency of a State and aims to simplify local purchases.

Libra stablecoin confined to money transfers

Global stablecoin was a threat for the authorities? Facebook is reducing its reach. However, this is not the only concession. This is the very ambition of the project which is revised downwards. No more question for the multinational to impose itself as a central bank or financial center.

The Libra project now wants to be a more traditional payment network, therefore using electronic currencies. For members of the Swiss-based Association, the goal is no longer to compete, but to complement national currencies.

The twenty companies brought together by Facebook also plan to collaborate with states that have or develop their own digital currency. Another major concession made to regulators: the open architecture comparable to that of Bitcoin is abandoned.

Libra network examined by Switzerland and 20 regulators

The NYT specifies that Libra, in its new version, will now be a closed system in which only the partners having the approval of the Association will be able to build infrastructures, such as wallets, for the corners.

Thanks to this Libra V2, Facebook and its members hope to be able to launch their payment network this year, as planned in the initial project. To do so, they began subjecting Libra to the authorities' approval process, starting with Switzerland.

The Financial Market Supervisory Authority will review the Libra system. The latter said, however, having assembled a "college" composed of regulators from more than 20 other countries to examine this technology.

I think this round will be better received, but it depends on how the story is told and how accurately it is told, ”said the vice president and public policy officer for the Libra Association, Dante Disparte.