Facebook’s march to launching their cryptocurrency started a few years ago with the hiring of David Marcus; even as the company was dealing with a number of crises the team behind Libra was being built under the radar; “I’ve been doing this for more than a year, like 20 hours a day, and I’m still wrapping my head around it,” said Kevin Weil, who moved from Instagram to become Facebook’s head of blockchain product in June 2018, the the FT; the team wasn’t sure if their work would materialize earlier this year according to reporting at the FT; Facebook’s decision to give up control looked to be the key change that helped to get partners on board; the company chose partners based on who could provide most value in the early stages of the project according to Marcus. Source.