Thirty different blockchain companies and nonprofit organizations plan to fork the Facebook-led Libra crypto project to build OpenLibra, their own permissionless version.
Announced by Lucas Geiger, the co-founder of Wireline, a blockchain infrastructure startup, at the Ethereum Developer Conference Devcon, that OpenLibra will function as a stablecoin pegged to the actual Libra cryptocurrency. Libra is currently scheduled to go live late next year.
Seeing #openlibra publicly announced for the first time is sending shivers down my spine. I am so excited about this initiative to "lock the door open" for libra tech. @geiger_lucas on the main stage at #devcon5 https://t.co/EdLqKm75K3 pic.twitter.com/9DAH8aPl2S — Lane Rettig (@lrettig) October 9, 2019
Lucas Geiger said during his presentation at Devcon:
“We’re going to fork the code, fork the community and create a new cryptocurrency called OpenLibra. There is no token sale. No equity and no company behind this initiative.” Lucas Geiger
However, OpenLibra’s core team includes representatives from blockchain projects including Cosmos, Chainlink, Web3, Democracy Earth, among others, as well as non-profit organizations such as the Danish Red Cross.
<img src="https://www.cryptonewspoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/china-may-release-libra-competitor-before-facebook-launches-it-report_1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2769 lazyload" width="470" height="235" />
Geiger explained that “a generous grant” from the Interchain Foundation would support OpenLibra research, alongside personal funds. The Interchain Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to supporting Cosmos network development.
Geiger said:
“This covers our funding for several months but there are other grants coming in.” Lucas Geiger
At first, Facebook displayed Libra in June, detailing a stablecoin that will be pegged to a basket of fiat currencies and government bonds.
So far, the OpenLibra project has published a permissionless version of the Libra virtual machine on GitHub. Unlike Facebook’s Libra, the code computations on OpenLibra called “MoveMint” will run atop Tendermint blockchain software specifically designed for use on public blockchain platforms such as Cosmos.
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Geiger stated:
“Anything running on Facebook’s Libra, you can just drag and drop to OpenLibra. Finances will work the same. The code will work the same.” Lucas Geiger
Geiger also explained that he and others did not want “a cartel company with the ethics of Uber and censorship of Visa” to be the sole proprietor of the Libra coin. Still, he said that the idea for Libra and its technology was not only brilliant but “likely to become the currency of the Internet.”
Geiger summed up the sentiment by saying:
“In Libra, we trust, on Facebook we don’t.” Lucas Geiger
Looking ahead, Geiger and the rest of the OpenLibra team plan to work on building a robust scheme to oversee the OpenLibra platform.
Geiger added:
“This is a governance problem. Governments can attack Visa and Mastercard and Facebook from different angles and that makes for a fragile reserve currency. We have less regulatory exposure than Facebook. Governments have less leverage on us. … We gain strength by having more members that are decentralized not just geographically but politically and economically.” Lucas Geiger
Source: tendermint.com