Luxury brands marketplace Farfetch has announced it will become a founding member of a new blockchain initiative.
In a statement, Farfetch said it has joined the Libra Association as a founding member and will work closely with other such member organisations in the lead up to the public launch of the initiative which will take place in the first half of 2020.
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The not-for-profit organisation was founded to create a simple global currency and financial infrastructure that will empower billions of people. Called Libra, this reserve-backed currency, once created, will enable everyone, everywhere to send, spend, and save their money through a financial ecosystem powered by secure blockchain technology.
“Libra is for everyone. Moving money around the world should be as easy and cheap as sending a text message. No matter where you live, what you do, or how much you earn,” the organisation states on its website.
Libra will be built on a secure, scalable, and reliable blockchain which will be open for developers and businesses to build inclusive new financial service products for people all around the world. The currency will be backed by a reserve of real assets, providing low volatility, wide global acceptance, and fungibility.
This new ecosystem, set to launch in 2020, will be governed by the independent Libra Association, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The Libra Association will be responsible for facilitating the development of the open-source Libra Blockchain and managing the Libra Reserve.
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By GlobalDataMembers of the Libra Association will consist of geographically distributed and diverse businesses, nonprofit and multilateral organisations, and academic institutions
In its role, Farfetch will actively participate in the ongoing technical, architectural, and operational development of the Libra Association as one of the founder members.
Blockchain technology has long been of interest to Farfetch, and the company has been researching its potential applications for the luxury industry. Farfetch believes that the Libra Blockchain will help to enable frictionless e-commerce and will form an important part of the company’s broader blockchain strategy that will develop over time.
“Farfetch is delighted and honoured to join the Libra Association as a founding member,” Stephanie Phair, chief strategy officer at Farfetch said. “We have been looking at blockchain technology to help solve a range of fashion industry issues. We were delighted to be approached by the Association for this initiative, which we believe will enable frictionless e-commerce for hundreds of millions of people around the world.”
Jose Neves, CEO and co-chair of Farfetch, added: “We believe blockchain will benefit the luxury industry by improving IP protection, transparency in the product lifecycle and – as in the case of Libra – enable global frictionless e-commerce.
As a founding member of the Libra Association, we will actively participate in the technical development of the blockchain, whilst at the same time being able to learn from our participation and accelerate our other blockchain projects.”
