Facebook Libra's first digital coin arriving in January: Report

The Libra Association, which manages Facebook's cryptocurrency project, will launch a single coin backed by one dollar as early as January, The Financial Times reported on Friday.

The Libra Association would launch other currencies and a "digital composite" of all of its coins at a later date.

However, according to critics, moving to single-currency coins "could result in additional costs for currency conversion", undermining the project's goal of greater financial inclusion.

Facebook and 20 partner organisations formally joined the digital currency project during a meeting in Geneva in October last year.

In a move to win regulators' hearts, The Libra Association in April announced that its cryptocurrency will offer stable coins backed by just one nation's currency, meaning some coins offered would serve as the equivalent value of a dollar or a Euro.

In a white paper, The Libra Association took a scaled-down approach to woo its critics, saying that Libra will focus on building a payment network in which coins are tied to a variety of local currencies.

Earlier this week, The Libra Association introduced Saumya Bhavsar as the new general counsel of Libra Networks.

Libra Networks will manage the operations of the licensed Libra payment system.

"I am thrilled to be joining the Libra Association as it progresses toward enabling a more inclusive global financial system," said Bhavsar.

She recently served as Managing Director, Global Head of Regulatory Affairs and Group Head of Data Protection Office at Credit Suisse.

"Saumya is a strategic leader with demonstrated ability and success in legal, regulatory and operational roles in one of the most highly-regulated industries," said James Emmett, Managing Director of Libra Networks.

Last year, several heavyweights pulled out of the Libra project, like PayPal, Mastercard, Visa, Mercado Pago, eBay, Stripe and Booking Holdings and Vodafone over privacy concerns.