Lucas Geiger, the co-founder of blockchain startup called Wireline, announced that companies and organizations can create their own versions of crypto projects based on Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra, called OpenLibra.
The announcement was made at the Ethereum developer conference Devcon where Geiger claimed that OpenLibra would work as a stablecoin to the original Libra cryptocurrency. Currently, thirty different blockchain and cryptocurrency companies and nonprofit organizations have planned to develop their versions off of Facebook’s digital currency which is expected to go live late next year.
Geiger introduced these plans during a presentation at Devcon, claiming they will “fork the coins” to develop a new cryptocurrency named OpenLibra. Geiger further says that there is no token sale behind this and no equity or company that is sponsoring the initiative.
Digital platforms of blockchain projects gaining popularity like Chainlink, Democracy Earth, Web3 and Cosmos are among OpenLibra’s various representatives. The list also includes many non-profit organizations including the Danish Red Cross.
Geiger says that a grant from the Interchain Foundation can fund OpenLibra’s research. The foundation is a non-profit aiming to build and develop its Cosmos network. Geiger claims that the current funding can cover several months, including personal funds but as of yet, no further grants are coming in.
Facebook first introduced Libra as a stablecoin that can be pegged to a basket of fiat currencies. The announcement of this cryptocurrency was made in June. The OpenLibra project now has a published permissionless version of the original Facebook-led cryptocurrency Libra’s virtual machine on GitHub.
OpenLibra’s code computations called MoveMint, will run over Tendermint Blockchain Software specially designed and structured for a public blockchain platform usage as opposed to the original Libra. Geiger mentioned that anything running on Libra can be dragged and dropped to OpenLibra and the transactions and code will work just fine.
“In Libra We Trust, In Facebook We Don’t”
Geiger further explained the reason for these actions he had announced at the conference: instead of having a sole proprietor of Libra coin, with the “ethics of Uber and censorship of Visa,” the blockchain and non-profit industries should benefit from such an advanced cryptocurrency technology.
The idea for Libra and its technology is to become the Internet’s unofficial digital currency. To conclude his presentation, Geiger ended with the self-explanatory quote, “In Libra we trust, in Facebook we don’t.”
The Open Libra team plans on developing schemes to oversee the OpenLibra operations and further develop the platform.
