The Libra cryptocurrency is once again involved in a market buzz. Now, however, the issue is involving thirty blockchain companies and non-profit organizations. The news is that these institutions are planning to create, without permission, their own version of Facebook’s stablecoin. The cryptocurrency would be nicknamed OpenLibra.
The core team at the head of the project includes representatives of blockchain projects, including Cosmos, Democracy Earth and others, as well as non-profit organizations such as the Danish Red Cross.
The co-founder of the infrastructure blockchain startup Wireline, Lucas Geiger, explained that OpenLibra will act as a stablecoin linked to the current Libra cryptocurrency. According to him, there will be no sale of tokens, as well as no equity and no company behind this initiative. “We’re going to split the code, divide the community and create a new cryptocurrency called OpenLibra”, he said.
In order to develop the project, Geiger explained that there will be “a generous donation” from the Interchain Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the development of the Cosmos network. “This covers our funding for several months, but there are other subsidies coming in”, Geiger said.
Geiger explained that the group responsible for the project did not want a single cartel-shaped company to own the Libra stablecoin. Still, the executive points out that Libra’s idea and its technology is not only brilliant, but would likely become the internet currency. “ In Libra we trust, but on Facebook, no”.
OpenLibra will work in the same way as Facebook’s currency
So far, OpenLibra has published a not allowed version of the Libra virtual machine on GitHub. Unlike Facebook’s Libra, code calculations at OpenLibra, called “MoveMint”, will run at the top of Tendermint’s blockchain software, specifically designed for use on public blockchain platforms such as Cosmos.
According to Geiger, the finances and the code will work in the same way as the Facebook’s platform. “Anything running on Facebook’s Libra, you can just drag and drop at OpenLibra”, pointed out the executive.
“Anything running on Facebook’s Libra, you can just drag and drop at OpenLibra”
In the future, OpenLibra creators plan to develop a robust system to oversee the platform. “This is a governance problem. Governments can attack Visa, Mastercard and Facebook from different perspectives and this contributes to a fragile reserve currency”, Geiger said.
He also points out that the new project has less regulatory exposure than Facebook. “Governments have less influence on us. We gain strength by having more decentralized members, not only geographically, but also politically and economically”.
