Since its announcement in June 2019, Libra has been making waves across the globe regarding its proposed plans. The launch is likely in the mid-2020, but it is facing a lot of resistance since its inception from the financial world. A massive wave of political skepticism and regulatory concerns has also been witnessed in recent times.
The regulators are presuming it as a threat to global financial stability. Some are surmising it as a lead towards financial fraud. Due to its centralized nature unlike other cryptocurrencies, it is seen as a threat to monetary stability.
Amidst the growing global opposition, Libra might see a slight little delay in the scheduled launch on next year. It is noteworthy that it is supported by a reserve of real-world assets including short term government securities and bank deposits. Till date, Libra project has been backed up by 28 financial institutions, including the world’s largest financial entities like Visa, MasterCard, and PayPal, etc.
The structure has been envisioned to regularize the price volatility of cryptocurrencies and build trust among the regulators and the users.
Global Resistance for Libra:
According to the latest developments, a financial conglomerate of 26 European central banks has scrutinized Facebook about its proposed project.
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Various other countries have expressed their deep apprehensions over Facebook’s recent involvement in the user’s data privacy breaching scandal with Cambridge Analytica in 2018.
The scam exposed Facebook’s alleged involvement in selling user’s data to Cambridge Analytica, which was further used for political leverage. Financial bodies and governments from Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, and China along with European countries are perceiving this as emerging threats for their monetary sovereignty. Lawmakers in its own country US have been stringently resisting this project. France and Germany are considering to block the Libra.
Facebook’s Reaction:
Consistent impressive efforts are being done from the Libra Association based in Geneva to resolve the regulatory issues.
Bertrand Perez, MD of Libra Association at an interview at UN headquarters recently cleared the turmoil by saying that a delay of one or two quarters in launch may happen. He added,
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.
Last week, David Marcus, Executive leading the Libra Project said,
The goal is still to launch Libra next year, until then, we’ll need to address all questions adequately, create a suitable regulatory environment.
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He has previously assured that Facebook won’t be able to access data for the Libra project.
