The Libra Association is an independent membership organisation based in Geneva. Its membership consists of geographically distributed and diverse businesses (e.g. payment, technology, telecommunications, and venture capital companies) and nonprofit organisations.
The Association is responsible for the governance of the Libra network and the development of the Libra Project.
Digital Activities
Building on the potential of blockchain technology, Libra intends to create a new kind of digital infrastructure and a global payment system aimed at addressing a global audience. To this end, the software that implements the Libra Blockchain is open source, so that anyone can build on it.
Digital policy issues
- Blockchain
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The aim of the Libra Blockchain is to serve as a basis for financial services, including a new global payment system that meets the daily financial needs of billions of people, including underserved individuals. According to the Libra Association’s White Paper, the blockchain model is built from the ground up to address the following three requirements: Scale to billions of accounts, by ensuring high transaction throughput, low latency, and an efficient, high-capacity storage system; safety of funds and financial data; and flexibility, so that it can power future innovation in financial services. The document also outlines the path forward, including how to ensure that the Libra Blockchain reaches a production-ready state. In this context, the Libra Association underlines that it will co-operate with entities such as wallet services and exchanges in order to ensure the system is operational before its release. It also highlights that it will focus on the provision of well-documented APIs and libraries to enable users to interact with the Libra Blockchain. Among other things, it intends to create a framework for the collaborative development of the Libra Blockchain technology adhering to its open-source approach.
- Cryptocurrencies
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The Libra Association is also involved in the domain of cryptocurrencies. As part of its payment system, the Libra Association announced the development of single- and multi-currency stablecoins – the so-called Libra coin. The single-currency stablecoin, which is in itself a digital asset that has a specific face value in one fiat currency, will be fully supported by the Libra Reserve that is expected to be made up of cash or cash equivalents and short-term government securities denominated in the same currency as the stablecoins. The multi-currency stablecoin, for its part, will be a digital compound of the Libra single-currency stablecoins and, among other things, will be used as a cross-border settlement coin.
