INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Facebook unveiled its audacious Libra cryptocurrency and Calibra digital wallet on Tuesday, through which it plans to transform financial
services across the globe
The social juggernaut made clear its ambitions when it said that it wishes to empower more than 1.7 billion people around the world who
currently do not have a bank account.
But potentially an equally large group of people would not be able to use Facebook new digital
payments service when it begins its rollout next year
Responding to queries from TechCrunch, a Calibra spokesperson said that the digital wallet will not be rolling out to a number of markets
that have taken a stand against cryptocurrency, or are sanctioned by the United States
&The Libra Blockchain will be global, but it will be up to custodial wallet providers to determine where they will and will not operate
Calibra won&t be available in U.S.-sanctioned countries or countries that ban cryptocurrencies,& the spokesperson told
TechCrunch.
TechCrunch understands that India, Facebook biggest market, is among the list of countries where Calibra does not intend to
Additionally, Calibra isn&t going to be available in China, North Korea and Iran, where Facebook does not currently have a presence.
India
remains cautious about cryptocurrency
The country central bank Reserve Bank of India told the highest court in the nation that it did not want cryptocurrency to spread like a
&contagion,& citing potential harms
Last month, the nation proposed a bill that would penalize 10-year jail sentence to those who &mine, hold, sell, transfer, dispose, issue,
or deal in cryptocurrencies.&
Earlier this week, Facebook said that Calibra will be available on WhatsApp, Messenger and through a
In India, this created some additional confusion as WhatsApp already offers a person-to-person payments service in the nation, called
India is the only market where WhatsApp currently offers its payments service
A WhatsApp spokesperson told TechCrunch that Facebook is committed to the efforts that it has made on WhatsApp Pay, which is built on top
of Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a three-year-old government-backed payments infrastructure that is driving hundreds of millions of
financial transactions in the nation each month.
WhatsApp payments service is currently available to one million users in India, and the
Facebook -owned instant messaging giant is working with the government for a nationwide rollout.
