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Less than a month after Facebook released additional details about its cryptocurrency, Libra, U.S. Democratic lawmakers have asked the company to put its plans on hold. On Tuesday, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee — headed by Representative Maxine Waters — wrote a letter to Facebook’s top executives. Other representatives who signed the letter included Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Lacy Clay, Al Green, and Stephen Lynch. The lawmakers wrote: “We write to request that Facebook and its partners immediately agree to a moratorium on any movement forward on Libra — its proposed cryptocurrency and Calibra — its proposed digital wallet. It appears that these products may lend themselves to an entirely new global financial system that is based out of Switzerland and intends to rival US monetary currency and the dollar. This raises serious privacy, trading, national security and monetary policy concerns for not only Facebook’s over 2 billion users, but also for investors, consumers and...
On Tuesday, Facebook finally unveiled more details about its cryptocurrency, Libra, which the company plans to launch in early 2020. That same day, lawmakers called for scrutiny of Facebook’s plans and even requested a moratorium. Lawmakers highlighted concerns over trusting Facebook with what’s essentially a global currency, given its frequent privacy scandals. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), who currently chairs the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, said, according to The Verge : “With the announcement that it plans to create a cryptocurrency, Facebook is continuing its unchecked expansion and extending its reach into the lives of its users. Given the company’s troubled past, I am requesting that Facebook agree to a moratorium on any movement forward on developing a cryptocurrency until Congress and regulators have the opportunity to examine these issues and take action.” However, Democrats aren’t the only ones coming forward with concerns about Facebook’s plans. Before...
On Tuesday, Facebook officially revealed more details about its cryptocurrency, Libra . The company shared its plans to launch Libra sometime in the first half of 2020. Libra will be a “stable currency built on secure and stable open-source blockchain, backed by a reserve of real assets, and governed by an independent association,” according to the company’s white paper. This means that Facebook won’t have full control of Libra. Instead, TechCrunch reported , it’ll have a single vote in Libra’s governance like the other founding members of the Libra Association, including Visa, Uber, and Andreessen Horowitz. Each of them has invested at least $10 million each into Libra already. On its website, Libra’s mission is described as: “A simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people. Reinvent money. Transform the global economy. So people everywhere can live better lives.” Essentially, anyone with a smartphone will be able to use Libra to make payments...