It has been a hugely eventful year in the crypto sphere, and perhaps one of the most important developments has been the announcement of Facebook’s Libra. However, as soon as it was announced that it was going to be launched next year, plenty of influential regulators expressed their doubts about the cryptocurrency straightaway.
Important Progress
They are still doing so, and in a new development, it has emerged that Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) is going to go ahead with the launch of Libra next year as planned notwithstanding any misgivings from regulators. Regulators have been generally hostile towards the whole thing, and some have gone on to state that Libra could undermine traditional fiat currencies.
The head of Calibra, David Marcus, spoke to the Swiss newspaper NZZ on September 22 and stated that Facebook’s Libra is going to address all the regulatory concerns before the cryptocurrency is launched. However, he reiterated that despite the misgivings from regulators, Facebook is determined to have the launch in 2020. It is an interesting comment from Marcus considering the fact that the company had earlier stated that Libra would not be launched unless all regulatory concerns have been addressed.
>> Samsung Patents Its Blockchain SSD: Will This Change Crypto Mining?
Libra is a stablecoin, and it is going to be backed by currencies like the United States Dollar, the euro, and the Japanese Yen, among others. However, in this regard, regulators believe that the presence of billions of users across Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger gives the company a huge advantage. That, in turn, could lead to the erosion of the importance of traditional fiat currencies. That being said, it is only one of the concerns that regulators have expressed with regards to Libra.
Marcus brushed off those fears and stated that it is highly unlikely that anyone is going to use Libra to make everyday payments. He went on to add that those who buy Libra have no privacy fears since Facebook will have no access to the data at all.
Featured image: DepositPhotos © BrianAJackson
