- The banking committee of the United States Senate has set a date of July 16, 2019, to receive testimony on the Libra Project
- This is due to regulatory concerns about the token’s effect on global financial stability
Earlier this week, Facebook released the whitepaper for its much-anticipated Libra coin which sent the crypto world into a frenzy. The project had been anticipated for months with much discussion being held around what regulatory status the token will hold as well as its implications for third world countries.
As expected, various world governments are interested in the implications of the project in question as it has been reported on June 19, 2019, that the banking committee of the United States Senate has set a date of July 16, 2019, to receive testimony on the Libra Project.
A Meeting with Senate
Even before it was released, there had been regulatory concerns regarding the project, especially what effects it could have on financial stability. There was so much concern that rep Maxine Waters, the chairwoman of the United States House of Representatives financial services committee, demanded that Facebook halt the project while investigations were ongoing by regulatory developers.
“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,” she stated.
Now the banking committee has set a date of July 16, 2019, to hold a hearing which will be entitled “Examining Facebook’s Proposed Digital Currency and Data Privacy Considerations.” This is a given considering the effect the Facebook token could have on the global economy as well as mirrors in a previous hearing Facebook had attended when the Cambridge Analytica scandal of 2018 first broke.
According to Jerome Powell, who is the head of the US Federal Reserve, Facebook had consulted regulators regarding the project and this wasn’t only in the United States but extended across the world. Last week, Facebook hired a reputable lobbyist from Standard Chartered in the UK and also allegedly is meeting with the governor of the Bank of England to discuss the upcoming project.
In France, the minister of the economy and finance Bruno Le Marie has called on top officials in the finance sector to conduct a report on the token that will be presented during their July meeting.
The coin itself will not hit the market until 2020 which should give Facebook significant time to sort out all regulatory issues pending across the globe.