Facebook-Backed Libra Cryptocurrency Project Is Scaled Back

OAKLAND, Calif. — When Facebook unveiled its Libra cryptocurrency project last June, the social networking company described it as a futuristic global money that could serve as the foundation for a new kind of financial system.

But on Thursday, Facebook and its partners rolled out a less ambitious design for Libra after the effort encountered numerous hurdles and heavy regulatory scrutiny.

No longer is the group focused on making Libra the basis of a new global financial system where Facebook could essentially play the roles of a central bank and Wall Street.

In a sign of the change, the Libra project will now focus on creating a more traditional payment network in which coins will be tied to a local currency, somewhat like the digital dollars in a PayPal account. While Libra will also have a coin backed by multiple national currencies, which was the focus of the initial design documents, that will be less prominent.

Members of the Libra Association, a Swiss-based group that Facebook…