PayPal cautious about Libra’s future

As International outcry mounts over Facebook’s upstart cryptocurrency

SAN FRANCISCO: PayPal is cautious about the future of Facebook-backed cryptocurrency Libra, which is slated to debut with the pioneering digital payments firm as part of its oversight association. International outcry is mounting over Libra - with central banks, governments and regulators railing against Facebook’s upstart cryptocurrency and questions over how it would be regulated. The social media giant unveiled plans in June for Libra - which will roll out in 2020 - to be backed by a basket of currency assets to avoid the wild swings of Bitcoin and other virtual units. “It’s a non-binding commitment,” PayPal Investor Relations Vice President Gabrielle Rabinovitch said of the California-based company signing on to the Libra Association. “And obviously, I think there’s a lot of work to happen before we get to that point where it becomes something more than just a very exciting idea.” The non-profit Libra Association, based in Geneva, will oversee the blockchain-based coin, maintaining a real-world asset reserve to keep its value stable. Facebook envisioned Libra as a new global cryptocurrency, pledging to deliver stable virtual money that lives on smartphones and could bring over a billion “unbanked” people into the financial system.  

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th, 2019.

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