Libra is getting some competition. The Celo Foundation has signed up 50 members to its 'Alliance for Prosperity', an effort to use blockchain technology and digital assets to "enable prosperity for everyone".
Libra Association members Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase Ventures, along with the Grameen Foundation, are among the firms backing the non-profit Celo Foundation's mission.
Celo is a decentralised and open source platform designed to help make financial tools accessible to anyone with a mobile phone. The project's Celo Dollar stablecoin can be sent to mobile numbers rather than crytpo wallet addresses.
The Foundation says its platform will help bring the transparency, utility and low cost of blockchain technology to people around the world, enabling developers to build tools that work across devices, carriers and countries.
"Alliance members are pursuing a diverse set of use cases, including powering mobile and online work, enabling faster and affordable remittances, reducing the operational complexities of delivering humanitarian aid, facilitating payments, and enabling microlending," says a blog.
For example, humanitarian aid organisations will be using Celo Dollars instead of distributing food or fiat money in order to reduce the cost of sending perishable items or prepaid cards.
Celo says it is different from the Facebook-led Libra because it is decentralised. Its reserve is also backed by other cryptocurrencies, not fiat money, which could help avoid the regulatory concerns Libra is facing.