The year 2021 will possibly see Libra, the Facebook-backed cryptocurrency, hit the market in full gear. According to a financial times report, it could even launch as early as January. The predicted launch of Libra is in a limited format and will currently be in the form of USD digital currency. The libra project reportedly will add more fiat currencies to its assets to back its value in the future.

Libra is faced with regulatory scrutiny

According to financial times, the project has faced scrutiny from global financial regulators in the last one year. The regulatory and approval issue facing Libra, however, has been a factor behind its launch period. It is expected to get regulatory approval from FINMA, the Swiss financial regulatory body, to operate as a payment platform.

The libra association is seeking a license from the Swiss regulators to issue a series of stablecoins backed by fiat currencies. Still, the swiss body believes this could upset financial stability due to its nature.

It is no doubt that the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has had issues with many regulators since last year, which he announced the Facebook-endorsed cryptocurrency. He even had a case to answer to US lawmakers over the stablecoins project.

He further explained that regulatory and operational setbacks are forcing companies and partners to pull out of the project. The lawmakers argued that the launching of a private digital currency by facebook could put countries’ financial sovereignty at risk. However, it looks like the project will imminently launch in January, although in a testing format.

Facebook to launch the Calibra wallet

The set to launch cryptocurrency like every other currency will allow users to transfer money at almost zero fees, shop, and spend it via Facebook’s wallet, Calibra. Like many Facebook products, Libra will also be integrated with Whatsapp, Instagram, etc.

The full control of Libra does not entirely belong to Facebook, which announced that the Libra project has other founding members such as Visa, Horowitz, Andreessen, and Uber. The members of the project have each invested a minimum of $10million into the project, with each member allowed a vote to the governance of the Blockchain development.

Calibra is expected to manage the transactions and ensure the protection of user privacy on the platform. Facebook, which has been seen as a threat to the market, has always kept their promises of ensuring no-transaction fees on their ads, and this will be an advantage that Libra will ride on.

With Facebook boasting of a relationship with about 7 million advertisers and 90 million business group, its financial platform could be as big as PayPal, with Libra at the center of it. Libra is expected to be accessible to an unbanked individual, especially people with social media accounts, simpler to set up, flexible, and very efficient in its service.