A blockchain company believes that it has an option for Facebook’s digital currency proposal. With an advisory board that includes top Nobel Prize-winner economists, U.K.-based firm aspires to introduce a global currency that regulators find agreeable.
Unlike Libra’s new asset basket, Saga is pegging its token’s value to bank deposits in the same group of currencies that form the International Monetary Fund’s special drawing rights (SDR) — these are international reserve assets held by central banks to supplement their official reserves. The basket is heavily weighted in dollars, as well as the euro, Chinese yuan, Japanese yen and British pound.
Another difference from libra is the fact that Saga won’t be benefiting from it. It’s only acting as an issuer of the token, rather than building its own digital wallet for users to store and exchange it like Facebook is doing with Calibra. The SGA tokens will initially be available to purchase on Saga’s website and is being listed on the cryptocurrency exchange Liquid.
“Unlike other players, we don’t want to be the issuer and the payments layer and the custodian,” Saga founder told in an interview. “We’re focusing on the monetary part of it, on the issuance of a sound currency for global use, and we will increasingly liaise with partnerships in the realms of custodianship and of payments.”
