Does Facebook's new Libra coin herald a new era in digital
currencies? We address the potential of digital currencies
facilitating cheaper and faster cross-border money transfers and
transforming the traditional financial services and payments
industry
Introduction
Facebook's plan to launch Libra, a new global digital
currency built on an open-source blockchain, with a payment system
embedded into its messaging services, poses a significant and
immediate question: how deeply will Libra, and other digital
currencies like it, transform the traditional financial services
and payments industry?
If realised, Facebook's vision could mean the
disintermediation of banks and other payment providers by Libra, by
enabling instant, near-free international money transfers for
Facebook's 2.4bn users from their mobile phones.1
Aside from cross-border payments, the widespread use of e-money
like Libra could have broader implications for online commerce. The
creation of
