- Rep. Maxine Water has urged Facebook to pause the development of Libra until authorities investigate potential risks
- Maxine says it’s essential to properly scrutinize the firm’s Libra crypto project due to its troubled past
- Bank of England Governor Mark Carney says Facebook must be ready to scale the highest regulatory hurdles
Barely 24 hours after Facebook released the whitepaper for its much-talked-about Project Libra, it appears the tech giant’s “crypto dream” may not become reality anytime soon, as the chairwoman of the United States House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Maxine Waters has mandated Facebook to halt the project, citing the firm’s compliance issues, reports The Verge on June 18, 2019.
Maxine Rocks the Libra Boat
Per sources close to the matter, just when Mark Zuckerberg and his Facebook team have decided to release more details about Libra, the United States lawmakers have made it seem like a bad idea.
Specifically, Rep. Maxine Water, chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, has called for Facebook to suspend the development of its distributed ledger technology (DLT) based cryptocurrency until a proper investigation is carried out by the relevant authorities.
Maxine’s comments stem from the fact that Facebook has gotten itself into several user data privacy scandals in recent times and the lawmaker now believes that the firm may not have enough consumer protection measures in place in its crypto project.
Maxine said:
“With the announcement that it plans to create a cryptocurrency, Facebook is continuing its unchecked expansion and extending its reach into the lives of the masses. 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 the issues and take the necessary action.”
More Battles Ahead
Elsewhere, Mark Carney, the Bank of England Governor has made it clear that Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency will face strict regulatory scrutiny, and such the team behind Libra must be ready to answer all the questions when the time comes.
In his words:
“Any project that works in this world will become instantly systemic and will have to be subject to the highest standards of regulation. We will look at it very closely and in a coordinated fashion at the level of the G-7, the BIS, the FSB and the IMF. so open mind, but not open door.”
Earlier in June 2019, Facebook made it clear that all prospective node partners must cough out $10 million to gain access, a move that has been criticized by blockchain technology proponents across the globe.
The firm’s whitepaper has also revealed that Libra Blockchain will first start off as a permissioned distributed ledger, making it open to only a select few.
Interestingly, cryptocurrency big whales including Binance’s Changpeng Zhao (CZ) have also taken to Twitter to condemn Project Libra.
Facebook Libra coin don't need KYC. They have so much more data on the 2 billion people. Not just name, id, address, phone number. They know your family, friends, real-time/historic location, what you like… They know you more than yourself. And now your wallet too. Best AML!
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) June 18, 2019
