Facebook’s digital currency project Libra is set for launch by as early as January next year but in a limited format, The Financial Times reports, whereas Facebook had earlier scheduled Libra’s launch for this year but got delayed by regulatory hassles and pushback.

Libra is a blockchain-based payments system that’s planned by Facebook to be used globally and as such drawn attention from monetary regulatory authorities across the globe. Many have expressed skepticism including the US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell who has voiced “serious concerns regarding privacy, money laundering, consumer protection and financial stability”.

Some like France and Germany have voiced outright opposition to Facebook’s Libra project, leading the technology giant to delay its proposed launch in order to settle arisen issues. 

Under its Libra project, Facebook had planned to release a digital wallet called ‘Novi’ this very November but now hasn’t done so. The company had originally secured partnerships with major payments services like PayPal, Mastercard, Visa, and Stripe but saw the aforementioned names all formally drop-out from their partnerships later on.

The Financial Times reports that Facebook plans to launch a limited version of Libra as early as January next year, citing “three people involved in the initiative” who were unnamed. The paper notes Facebook’s planned 2021 launch as “in an even more limited format than its already downgraded vision”.

Photo credit: European Parliament, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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