Facebook’s David Marcus Responds to Critics Over Libra ‘Threat’

The head of Facebook’s Calibra – the entity created by Facebook to provide financial services including a digital wallet for the planned Libra cryptocurrency – has spoken out in response to claims from authorities that the project poses a threat to nations’ “monetary sovereignty.”

In a Twitter thread on Monday, David Marcus, who co-created Libra, said he wanted to “debunk” that notion – one most notably promoted by France’s Economy and Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire.

Le Maire said last Thursday that, with Libra, “The monetary sovereignty of states is under states is under threat,” and further threatened to block the project’s development in the EU.

Marcus said that Libra will be “backed 1:1 by a basket of strong currencies. This means that for any unit of Libra to exist, there must be the equivalent value in its reserve.” As such, Libra will not be creating new money. That function will “strictly remain the province of sovereign nations,” he said.

The Calibra chief further clarified that Libra is being built to be a “better” payment network utilizing national currencies, and “delivering meaningful value to consumers all around the world.”

Marcus welcomed the attention from regulators, however, saying:

“We believe strong regulatory oversight preventing the Libra Association from deviating from its full 1:1 backing commitment is desirable.“

His comments come as a group of 26 central banks – including the European Central Bank, the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England – meets in Switzerland to grill the Libra Association over the scope and design of the project.

In the thread, Marcus also pledged to continue working with “central banks, regulators, and lawmakers to ensure we address their concerns through Libra’s design and operations.”

David Marcus image via CoinDesk archives