Facebook Libra
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Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency
Western government officials
media commentators
users in developing countries
cryptocurrency
blockchain
other technologies
developing countries
potentially be even more so
2.4 billion users
1.5 billion users
in developing countries
more than 300 million users
120 million
80% of small businesses use WhatsApp as part of their business activities
testing a new feature called WhatsApp Pay
1 million users
buying goods and services
Indian government’s Unified Payments Interface
banks have to pay a fee
US$689 billion to family members in other countries
$25 billion a year
saving money on these transfers
send home most or all of the fee savings
other online financial services
500,000 users
46 developing nations
digital wallet coupled with an online chat
13 Indian languages
integrate with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp
financial and technology giants
can prove attractive
Avalancha
offers a 10% discount for payments in bitcoin
lost half its value
may not get its money for a month
provide small-amount loans totaling more than $1 billion
exorbitantly high interest rates
around 40%
Kiva is another backer of Libra
potential for greater security
such as the M-Pesa
increasingly popular targets for hackers and cyber-thieves
Many users of India’s UPI
victims of financial cybercrime
prove that the Libra system can combat money laundering and fraud
Libra’s integration with WhatsApp and Facebook, and potentially Instagram
Facebook has alarmed regulators and customers
and exploitations
developing nations
developed ones
shadow bank
private company issuing its own currency
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