Mubasher: IBM is open to cooperate with Facebook on its cryptocurrency efforts, as it looks to ramp up “collaboration” related to technologies like blockchain across industries, an executive at the tech firm’s told CNBC.

“Our clients are ready to work with [Facebook] and we’re ready to work with all of them to bring it together,” IBM’s blockchain services general manager Jason Kelley said, describing the technology as “a team sport.”

Companies like IBM used the underlying principles behind cryptocurrencies like bitcoin to make their own blockchain solutions for organising data across a network of computers, for the sake of more transparency around every area from banking to supply chain management.

It is vital to distinguish when talking about crypto assets and their “tokenisation,” in which every asset from currencies to stocks can be issued on a digital ledger, Kelley noted.

Companies jumping on the bandwagon like Facebook helps to confer more legitimacy on the underlying technology, he added.

Last June, Facebook confirmed its plans to launch Libra, its own digital currency next year, with the support of a range of currencies and assets stored worldwide. The currency will be overseen by a consortium of companies, known as the Libra Association, including Visa, Mastercard and Uber.

“We talk about libra and people say it’s just another crypto,” Kelley said.

“Set crypto aside and talk about tokenisation, because that’s what we’re talking about,” he added.

Kelley did not mention whether the US tech firm has any interest in joining the consortium.