Conceptually, It Works – Having a one-stop trusted marketplace for social interactions, retail purchases, and banking as a Western super app makes the digital world simpler and more convenient. The decentralisation of cryptocurrency adds appeal to developing and emerging economies with more corruption in their systems. Libra would sidestep the sovereign power of the country, enabling individuals to live in a decentralised system that avoids the financial impact of power struggles, war, and economic decline, allowing them to live out their days in a dollar-backed stablecoin.
An Alternative to Dollarisation
Dollarisation occurs when a country adopts the U.S. dollar as its primary currency to stabilise its economy. Libra, announced by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in 2019, promised a fair financial system revolution, particularly aimed at solving the ‘unbanked problem’ globally Facebook Announces Libra Cryptocurreny. By offering an alternative to traditional banking, it empowered individuals to safeguard against currency devaluation in volatile countries where war or corruption drives mass money-printing, leading to hyperinflation. Unlike full dollarisation, which replaces local currency with the U.S. dollar, Libra offered a potentially less drastic solution, a stable, accessible digital currency. The experiences of Zimbabwe and Cambodia illustrate the need for such an alternative.
Zimbabwe: Hyperinflation and USD Dominance
Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation peaked at 79.6 billion per cent month-on-month in 2008, with 1 U.S. dollar equalling 35 quintillion Zimbabwean dollars (ZWD) Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe – Wikipedia. The ZWD’s collapse led to dollarisation in 2009, with 85–90% of economic activity in USD until 2016. By 2025, 70–80% remains in USD, as the reintroduced ZWL depreciates to 24,000 ZWL per USD.
Cambodia: Gradual Devaluation and Dollarisation
Cambodia’s riel lost 99.9% of its value from 4 KHR per USD in 1980 to 4,000 KHR by the 2000s due to post-war instability Dollarisation stabilised the economy, with 83–90% of transactions in USD by the 2010s. Restoring riel trust remains challenging at 4,100 KHR per USD in 2025.
Libra conceptually could have offered a digital stablecoin, complementing USD stability and potentially providing an easier route back to the local currency, strengthening through a weighted basket approach that slowly reintroduces it propped up by government and public sector use.
Libra’s Potential
The dollarisation of Zimbabwe and Cambodia shows the demand for stable currencies amid hyperinflation or devaluation. Libra’s blockchain-based stablecoin, backed by a basket of currencies, could have been a less invasive alternative, preserving monetary sovereignty while offering stability. Its integration with Facebook’s platform would have reached the 1.4 billion unbanked, addressing Zuckerberg’s financial exclusion goal. However, trust was a hurdle. The 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal, where 87 million users’ data was misused for political targeting in the 2016 U.S. election and Brexit campaigns, damaged Meta’s reputation Revealing 50 million Facebook profiles harvested for Cambridge Analytica.
This led to Zuckerberg’s 2018 congressional testimony, a $5 billion FTC fine in 2019, and a $725 million settlement in 2022, fuelling scepticism during Libra’s launch FTC Imposes $5 Billion Penalty, Meta ultimately settling the case for a reported 725m. Meanwhile almost present day Ripple’s RLUSD launched in 2025, is almost direct competitor to Libra’s vision, and its permissioned blockchain (via RippleNet and XRP Ledger) contrasts with Libra’s proposed model meaning that Facebook may have simply been too ahead of the times.
A sympatico, Integrated System for Social and Commerce
A sympatico, integrated system for social and commerce makes abundant sense. Trust is built through time spent and is a direct measure of reliance. Facebook’s 2.9 billion monthly active users in 2019 offered impressive engagement and retention, suggesting it was more trusted than institutions in countries undergoing hyperinflation. This would have been evident from user dynamics analytics, indicating a high likelihood of uptake for a payment system safeguarding against the effects of devaluation and hyperinflation. Libra could have enabled borderless payments, allowing friends and family to send and receive money effortlessly. However, regulators and governments posed significant barriers. While a case could be made that Libra favoured native currency recovery more than dollarisation, overcoming sovereign resistance to a corporate controlled currency likely remained a substantial challenge.
Can Facebook Revive It?
Meta’s Libra legacy faces significant hurdles, stemming from regulatory, financial, and reputational challenges:
- Regulatory Scrutiny: Intense U.S. and global regulatory pressure, often termed ‘Operation Choke Point 2.0,’ led Meta to sell the Diem Association, the non-profit housing the Libra initiative, in January 2022. Although this is no longer a challenge with a pro crypto administration the legacy of Libra may prove insurmountable.
- Asset Sale: The Diem intellectual property and related payment network assets were purchased for $182 million by Silvergate Capital Corporation, the holding company for Silvergate Bank, a key partner in FTX’s operations.
- FTX Fallout: FTX’s collapse, one of the largest frauds in crypto history, eroded public trust in the sector, with Silvergate’s involvement amplifying the reputational damage.
- Silvergate’s Bankruptcy: A deposit run following FTX’s collapse caused Silvergate to file for bankruptcy in September 2024, leaving the Diem IP likely held by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 24-12158), unless quietly sold off.
- IP Value Concerns: Much of the Diem technology is open-source, reducing the IP’s value and complicating Meta’s potential reacquisition, which would involve legal and financial complexities.
- Market Competition: Established stablecoins like USDC and players like PayPal and Ripple dominate the market, diminishing Meta’s incentive to re-enter crypto.
- Trust: Meta’s scandals of the years in regards to privacy would likely create a halo of cautioness for users to trust them with their finances.
- Meta’s Prospects: The FTX-Silvergate fallout and unfavourable associations make Meta’s return to crypto unlikely, as it would require overcoming significant reputational and regulatory barriers at a premium cost.
Enter X
The social media platform, formerly Twitter, is redefining journalism through citizen journalism and decentralised news, ensuring narratives cannot be controlled by powerful figures. X has announced ambitions to become a Western super app with payment capabilities in development. Initially a PayPal rival (Fate loves Irony as X owner and former PayPal Co-Founder Elon Musk would say) these plans may include a crypto component, given X’s ethos of creating decentralised experiences free from political pressure. With 600 million monthly active users in 2025 and a focus on trust, X could succeed where Libra failed, having less baggage regarding censorship and privacy concerns. In 2022, X took a radical transparency approach, releasing the Twitter Files, exposing internal moderation decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic and 2020 U.S. election, including shadow banning and content suppression at the behest of external actors Twitter Files – Wikipedia. This transparency, revealing historic platform abuses, bolstered X’s anti-establishment credibility, making it a trusted platform for a potential stablecoin or crypto wallet to empower users in volatile economies with decentralised economic power.