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Obviously early days, but my initial impression of Libra is that it's another MCX. Never heard of it? Exactly. Led by Walmart, it was a smartphone-based payment system launched with great fanfare back in 2012 with an impressive list of retailers. The problem?
The retailers all joined MCX just so that they had access to information. They had no desire to actually implement it. But they also couldn't afford to be the only retailer not privy to MCX's plans. MCX insisted that member retailers couldn't accept other smartphone payments.
Then Apple Pay came out. Retailers started dropping MCX to take Apple Pay, or they just ignored their MCX agreement. The consortium fell apart because they all had very different objectives, needs, and customer profiles.
Back to Libra... DO YOU REALLY THINK VISA WANTS TO DISRUPT ITS CASH COW??? Hell no. They are joining Libra to disrupt it, delay it, have visibility into their plans. PayPal? Mastercard? Stripe? Vodafone? Facebook? They all have different objectives, needs, and customer profiles.
There are endless examples of consortiums of competitors that form in the payments industry. The only time they work is on a small scale where all the players involved have a shared goal. Like the bank wire system in Australia (where there are basically only four banks).
Add to the mix that Facebook's main business is social media. Libra is a side hustle for them in an industry they don't understand. When things start to get difficult (regulators, member infighting, etc) they will readily abandon their involvement. Same with the other members.
Bottom line is that I've seen this (bad) movie before. So have you, but you probably don't remember them. This one has all the hallmarks of a failure that will cost a lot of money along the way. The positive? It will bring a lot of attention to crypto.
