Crucial Day Ahead For Facebook’s Libra: Marcus To Testify to Congress
The head of Facebook’s cryptocurrency project, Libra, David Marcus, is having a congressional hearing in front of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs today, July 16th. Based on his prepared notes, the hearing will be of large significance for Libra.
Big Day For Libra
David Marcus, the head of Facebook’s Calibra, will stand in front of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs today, defending the company’s recently announced cryptocurrency project.
The hearing is titled “Examining Facebook’s Proposed Digital Currency and Data Privacy Considerations” and based on this alone, we can expect the company to be put under fire on the matter of privacy, perhaps justifiably so, given its history in this regard.
It’s worth noting that Facebook managed to line up a lot of payments and VC firms to support its project but lawmakers were rather scrutinous and even skeptical from the get-go.
There’s a lot that needs to happen, though, in order for Libra to roll out. Even though Facebook said last month that it eyes a launch in 2020, according to David Marcus’ prepared remarks for the hearing, this might not be the case.
I want to be clear: Facebook will not offer the Libra digital currency until we have fully addressed regulatory concerns and received appropriate approvals.
The Main Concerns
Ever since the announcement of Libra, the main concerns of regulators have been over data security, money laundering, and consumer protections.
The latest high-ranked governmental official to join this line of fire was Steven Mnuchin, the US Secretary of Treasury. Speaking with reporters, Mnuchin said that he’s not comfortable with where Libra is at currently, especially when it comes to money laundering and other illicit activities.
They’re going to have to convince us of very high standards before they have access to the U.S. financial system. […] These cryptocurrencies have been dominated by illicit activity and speculation. – He said.
Similar concerns were recently expressed by the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell.
In his prepared testimony, Marcus argues that the Libra Association, which is the Swiss-registered entity that will be responsible for the Libra reserve, plans to register as a money services business with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). As such, it is expected to comply in full with the existing anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy regulations. Moreover, Marcus has also said that Libra is not intended to compete in any way with existing fiat sovereign currencies.
The Libra Association, which will manage the (Libra) Reserve, has no intention of competing with any sovereign currencies or entering the monetary policy arena[…] Monetary policy is properly the province of central banks.
Moreover, it’s also important to note that since the Libra Association is headquartered in Geneva, Marcus expects the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner to be the privacy regulator of the project.
In any case, it appears that Facebook is taking the path of scrutinous regulation. Interestingly enough, that’s exactly what Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, former rivals of Mark Zuckerberg, advised.
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