The relevant person in charge of Facebook said on October 20 that they might issue Libra coins based on a single fiat currency, rather than the originally proposed Librae coin linked to a basket of fiat currencies.
Editor’s note: This article is from “Tencent Technology”, review/contract Hey, authorized to reprint.
Facebook announced in June that it will issue digital currency, Libra, in the middle of next year. It has caused doubts from the regulatory authorities around the world and resolute opposition from many countries. One-quarter of the founding members have withdrawn. In the face of more and more doubts, Facebook has to start adjusting the Libra coin plan.
According to the latest news from foreign media, the relevant person in charge of Facebook said on October 20 that they may issue Libra coins based on a single legal currency, instead of the original Libra coin linked to a basket of legal tender.
The head of the Facebook Libra and Digital Wallet project (also considered one of the inventors of the Libracoin program) David Marcus said at a bank seminar that the company’s main goal remains to create a More efficient payment systems, but they are willing to look for alternatives to the current cryptocurrency.
“We can do it in different ways,” he said. “Rather than having a synthetic currency, we can have a series of stable coins, one dollar to stabilize the currency, one euro to stabilize the currency, one pound to stabilize the currency, and so on.”
He said: “We can certainly solve this problem through a large number of stable currencies that represent the national currency in symbolic figures. This is one of the options that should be considered.”
The so-called stable currency refers to the digital currency and cryptocurrency whose currency value is generally stable. As is well known, Bitcoin is by far the most well-known cryptocurrency, but the value of the Bitcoin currency fluctuates greatly, which affects it as an officially accepted payment currency or payment instrument. Facebook hopes to learn the lesson that Bitcoin can’t be popular, and to stabilize the balance of the Libra.
According to Facebook’s previous design, consumers can use a fixed currency (such as US dollars, euros, etc.) to purchase the exchange of Libra coins. The Libra Currency Association will set up a reserve fund to purchase some stable financial assets using these legal currencies (such as US Treasury bonds, etc.), these real financial assets will become a basis for stabilizing the value of Libra. In other words, the future value of Libra may be related to the exchange rate of a basket of currencies.
Before, Facebook also announced the first batch of currency types, including five legal currencies including the US dollar and the euro. Facebook said that more national legal tenders can be included in the future.
In the above meetingOn the other hand, Marcus said that his statement does not mean that a stable digital currency pegged to a legal tender is the new first choice of the Libracoin Association.
“We care about tasks, there are many ways to do it,” Marcus told foreign media after the group discussion. He added that Libra coins need to “show great flexibility.”
Earlier this month, the Libra coin project led by Facebook suffered a serious setback. A large number of companies in the online payment-related industries withdrew from the Libracoin project, including e-commerce giant eBay, global mobile payment giant PayPal, and the United States. Mobile payment service provider Stripe, as well as Visa and MasterCard, the world’s two largest credit card companies. Previously, agencies such as the US Congress issued warnings to these companies that if they were involved in the Libracoin project, the existing financial business would face more stringent supervision. According to foreign media reports, these companies do not want to participate in the Libracoin program to affect existing financial services.
Global policymakers and regulators are also concerned that the creation of the new digital currency, Libra, may overturn the global financial regulatory system, threaten user privacy, and encourage criminal groups to launder money, terrorist organizations to raise funds and other activities.
Last week, the finance ministers of the Group of 20 (G20) agreed to impose strict regulations on cryptocurrencies, including Libra, and said that such stable numbers should not be issued until various global risks are resolved. currency.
Marcus told foreign media that Facebook’s goal is still to release Libra in June 2020, but he acknowledges that they may miss this goal due to regulatory obstacles.
“We will wait and see, and we will continue to be our goal in the middle of next year.” When asked if the recent major partners left the project would delay the planned 2020 release time, Marcus said this.
“We have always said that unless we solve all reasonable problems and get proper regulatory approval, we will not move forward. So this does not depend entirely on us,” he said.
In fact, mobile payment services based on fiat currency are commonplace today, but foreign media generally believe that Facebook has combined with some Internet companies to issue Libra coins to establish a faster and simpler payment tool on a global scale. At the same time, it is necessary to circumvent the complicated financial supervision system of various countries.
Because Facebook has more than 2 billion users through its four social tools, the company’s Libracoin program has alerted global central banks and financial regulators. The use of a newly issued currency by such a large-scale user is thought to affect the monetary sovereignty of each country.
Recently, France, Germany and other countries have expressed their firm opposition to the Libra coin, which is considered a threat to the sovereignty of the country. Apple’s head, Cook, also said that private companies should not be involved in areas such as currency issuance.
After the withdrawal of a large number of payment companies, Facebook signed a charter with a number of other founding members. Marcus also said that there are still many companies around the world who want to become members of the Libra Currency Association, but they have a strict review selection criteria.
In the past two or three years, Facebook has witnessed countless scandals, especially the “Cambridge Analysis Inc. event in the UK”, the corporate image plummeted, and outsiders asked Zuckerberg and company second-hand Sandberg to resign. The Federal Trade Commission imposed a $5 billion fine on Facebook for privacy violations. In this context, multinational regulators believe that Facebook does not have enough credibility to issue digital currency or protect the privacy of currency holders.