MasterCard A Partner in Libra, Blockchain’s Next Wonder Project

Facebook’s announcement of the company’s intention to launch a cryptocurrency of its own named Libra has been the subject of conversation in the news and on social media over the past week.

On the 18th of June, Facebook announced that it is developing a cryptocurrency named Libra which is set to be launched in 2020. The social media giant released a white paper that detailed its plans and offered some explanations regarding Libra. The announcement was met with a range of reactions from the media, players in the blockchain industry and from the general public. The project, which has a host of e-commerce players and payment platforms on it, has online crypto trading markets experiencing an increase in activity and some cryptocurrencies even rose in their market prices as a reaction to Facebook’s announcement.

MasterCard

One of the world’s biggest e-commerce and payment platforms, MasterCard, is one of the founding members of Facebook’s Libra. The American company, through its Executive Vice President of Digital Solutions Jorn Lambert, expressed that they view Libra as a way of bringing together a cryptocurrency with a private governing body in order to create a stable way of processing payments worldwide.

Prior to the announcement if Libra, MasterCard was already a participant in the blockchain industry and the company already has some patents registered. Lambert said that the company thinks stablecoins are part of the future of institutions such as their own and that’s why the organization has invested in blockchain over the years. Collaborating with Facebook in project Libra is reflective of how invested MasterCard is in blockchain and where they think the technology is headed. It is without a doubt that the involvement of an industry giant such as MasterCard has put Libra in a good position prior to its official launching.

Matters Of Concern

There are some issues that Facebook and its partners will have to address before the project can be launched. For starters, some critics raised concerns about Facebook engaging in cryptocurrency given their history with data privacy and consumer protection. Cryptocurrencies themselves, mainly due to misinformation, raise concerns about similar issues and Facebook’s announcement created significant concern among some people.

Lambert noted that given cryptocurrencies and blockchain are fairly new to most people, it is normal and expected that they are surrounded by nervousness. He also added that the concerns that have arisen due to the speculation around blockchain technology are not reason enough to stop companies such as MasterCard from being innovative and exploring technologies such as blockchain. The world of cryptocurrencies, due to their nature, has attracted cybercriminals and other fraudulent individuals. That is another reason why a lot of people see cryptocurrencies in a bad light and are skeptical about Facebook’s Libra.

The Bottom Line

Facebook’s Libra is backed by some powerhouses including the social media giant itself. The involvement of companies such as MasterCard has generated much interest in the project and it is yet to be seen how the final product will turn out. Although there are some concerns regarding user’s data protection and the general perception of cryptocurrencies, it is without a doubt that Libra might be blockchain’s next wonder project and those who buy cryptocurrencies will surely be keeping an eye on developments around the project.