Facebook is already struggling with multiple fake accounts on its own social media platforms that are offering its newly announced cryptocurrency, Libra, The Washington Post reported Monday. Libra isn’t set to launch until the first half of next year, but around a dozen accounts, groups and pages are already on Facebook and Instagram, the report said.

Facebook last month unveiled the global digital coin, which will be managed by a governing body called the Libra Association and through a wallet service named Calibra. Facebook is working alongside 27 launch partners for Libra, including PayPal, Visa, Uber, Coinbase, Lyft, Mastercard, Vodafone, eBay and Spotify, but aims to have 100 members in the Libra Association by 2020. Libra is intended to be used to purchase products, send money internationally and make donations.

The number of fake accounts already online — some of which offer discounted Libra if people click through to another website — show how Facebook is “struggling to rebuild trust and fight the fraud likely to surround the new financial system,” according to The Washington Post.

Earlier this month, The US Federal Reserve System added its voice to the chorus of doubts raised by lawmakers, politicians and others worldwide about Libra. Libra has faced considerable skepticism and pushback since being announced, with US and European politicians almost immediately expressing concerns that stem from Facebook’s history of data security problems.

At the start of July, David Marcus, head of Calibra, said the Libra Association is “committed to a collaborative process with regulators, central banks and lawmakers to ensure that Libra helps with the kinds of issues that the existing financial system has been fighting.”

Marcus tweeted that Facebook went live with its announcement of Libra so early so that it could have such dialogue and get feedback on implementation.

by https://www.cnet.com