Libra, Facebook’s cryptocurrency, has faced a lot of criticisms from regulators since its announcement. Now, a European finance minister hints that the digital currency needs a bit of reworking for it to have a chance at success.
Swiss president, Ueli Maurer, who also serves as the country’s finance minister, believes that Libra is not likely going to be accepted, in its current form, by central banks, The Independent reported. As explained by the European leader, the problem with the cryptocurrency in the currencies supporting it.
“I don’t think [Libra will succeed], because central banks will not accept the basket of currencies underpinning it,” Maurer told Swiss broadcaster SRF. “The project, in this form, has thus failed.”
Facebook previously explained that Libra will be backed by assets held in different currencies to prevent price volatility issues hounding other digital currencies such as bitcoin. The tech giant also said that Libra will be controlled by the Libra Association which is based in Geneva.
Libra will be accessible to Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram users. With over 2 billion users of the social media platform, central banks fear that Libra will even rival established currencies such as the US dollar and might potentially destabilize the financial system.
In addition, lawmakers are reluctant to trust Facebook due to the recent incidents of data breaches. There are also concerns that allowing Libra is just giving Facebook too much autonomy akin to treating the social media platform as a separate country.
“To me, [Libra] suggests that Facebook's almost trying to turn itself into its own country,” UK's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee chair Damian Collins said in July.
French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire is determined to block Libra as well. “We will take steps with the Italians and Germans, because our sovereignty is at stake,” the minister said at the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund autumn meeting, Metro reported.
“Libra was never going to have an easy journey,” cryptocurrency professional Jon Walsh said. “Shifting society to trust a corporate money over governmental money is fairly seismic, but Facebook have the network to pull it off, which may be very scary to governments and central banks.”
That that does not mean it’s not going to happen. Like what the Swiss president said, Walsh also believes that some compromise is necessary. “I’m not sure what changes Libra would be able to make that would satisfy the majority of these institutions, so whether we will ever see a launch may well be in question,” Walsh added.


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