Facebook in July announced plans to launch its digital currency in June 2020 in partnership with other members of the Libra Association set up by the tech giant to coordinate and manage the project. However, the head of the association set up to manage this project told Reuters that the launch of the crypto could be delayed due to regulatory concerns that have been raised all over the world.
Since the US tech giant announced plans to launch Libra, it has been met with raised eyebrows from regulators in Europe and the US. In fact, France and Germany have pledged to block Libra from operating in Europe if it receives its license.
Betrend Perez, the managing director of the Geneva-based Libra Association told Reuters that the association were still in talks with regulators in Europe and other places to alleviate the tensions with Libra.
With a proposal to launch in June 2020, Perez said that he had expected a delay from one or two quarters, adding that all they are working for is getting the regulators to be on their side.
“What is important is that we need to comply with the regulators and we need to make sure that they are on board with us and fully comfortable with our solutions. We knew that we would have to answer lots of questions coming from regulators on both sides of the Atlantic, and from other parts of the world,” he said in an interview at the United Nations Offices in Geneva.
Libra which has partnered with some credible financial institutions like PayPal, Mastercard, and Visa said its structure intends to foster trust and stabilise the price volatility that affects cryptocurrencies and makes them impractical for commerce and payments.
David Marcus, the executive leading the project at Facebook last week said the company still plans to launch the currency in 2020 regardless of the hurdles with regulators and politicians.
“The goal is still to launch Libra next year. Until then, we’ll need to address all questions adequately, create a suitable regulatory environment,” he told Swiss newspaper.
The association has taken a backseat to Facebook, stressing that the cryptocurrency project is independent of the social giant, and none is a subsidiary of the other. Perez added that Libra was a project that started off under the umbrella of Facebook; it however isn’t wholly controlled by the social media giant. “The Libra association is clearly an association and not a subsidiary of Facebook,” he said.
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