Heifer International, a global non-profit working to eradicate hunger, has become the latest member of the Libra Association.
Announced on Monday, the United States-headquartered non-profit has become a part of the digital currency project as it believes that it will bring financial inclusion to the 1.7 billion unbanked adults.
“The Libra Association is an independent member organization developing a blockchain-based payment system that will support financial inclusion, competition, and responsible financial services innovation,” the official announcement stated.
“The Libra Association’s mission is to enable a simple global payment system and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people around the globe.”
Farmers who use local money lenders face high interest rates & loans that can be impossible to pay off, preventing them from building sustainable livelihoods. Heifer joining @Libra_, is a step towards changing that. #Finance #MotivationMonday pic.twitter.com/4WrCBO844U
— Pierre Ferrari (@HeiferCEO) April 20, 2020
Efforts to replace big guns
Heifer became the first organization to join the Swiss non-profit after it recently updated Libra whitepaper, taking a turn from the initial proposal of the digital currency.
Originally formed with 28 members, the Libra Association has seen an exodus of eight major payments and tech giants including Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, eBay, Vodafone, and Stripe.
However, apart from the recent addition, two other companies – Shopify and Tagomi – joined the consortium to support the development of Libra. With this, the Libra Association now has 23 members, including Facebook.
“We believe the Libra project has the potential to deliver a lower-cost, more accessible and more connected global financial system. One that will enable people that currently do not have access to the financial system to be connected to a more reliable and cost-effective platform,” Heifer added.
Meanwhile, Facebook is bolstering its efforts to develop Libra this time and is already in the process to hire 50 employees in Ireland for Calibra, the subsidiary responsible for the development of Libra wallet.
(Photo: flickr)
