Facebook to support new fiat-backed digital tokens along with Libra

According to a recent The Information report, Facebook is planning to launch multiple separate digital tokens, each pegged to different government-issued currencies like Euros and USD. This comes as an addition to the tech giant launching Libra, its own cryptocurrency. The new tokens and Libra can be accessed on Facebook’s digital wallet Calibra. Through this wallet, users can transact and make purchases with the tokens. The social media giant is planning to launch the wallet and digital currencies around the same time this year.

The wallet, which Facebook hopes to make available on WhatsApp and Messenger, may not be initially available in certain countries depending on the local currencies it supports. In response to some earlier rumors about Facebook taking a step back from Libra, a spokesperson told The Verge:

Reporting that Facebook does not intend to offer the Libra currency in its Calibra wallet is entirely incorrect. Facebook remains fully committed to the project.

Dante Disparte, head of Policy and Communications at the Libra Association, said: 

The Libra Association has not altered its goal of building a regulatory compliant global payment network, and the basic design principles that support that goal have not been changed nor has the potential for this network to foster future innovation.