Community bank executives, payments officials and others said Libra faces an uphill battle amid heavy competition and regulatory scrutiny.

Senators will examine the social media giant’s plan to offer a digital currency. House Financial Services Committee leaders have already criticized the idea.

Facebook grabbed the spotlight this week with the announcement of its Libra cryptocurrency initiative, and its list of high-profile supporters suggests that it's the only game in town. But banks have their own projects in the works.

Many people still distrust banks, but many also look askance at the social media giant, making it an unlikely savior of the unbanked.

Facebook's Libra project didn't come from nowhere. The social network has a long history of experimenting with digital payments, and launched a separate (and ill-fated) digital currency a decade ago.

Facebook is focusing the initial discussions around its cryptocurrency project as a preemptive strike against the privacy and legal concerns the public and politicians have about the huge social network.

Facebook unveiled plans for a new cryptocurrency that the social-media giant hopes will one day trade on a global scale much like the U.S. dollar.

MoneyGram International will use Ripple's blockchain to boost foreign exchange settlement for international payments.

Facebook's Libra, or GlobalCoin, will be cryptocurrency's largest test — fueled by a collection of huge investors that will determine if mainstream merchants and consumers will actually use a payment system featuring an alternative currency.

Distributed ledgers are already revolutionizing international transactions and trade finance. The added stability will bring about even greater adoption, argues Neutral's Matt Branton.