Hold on. As we pointed out last week, don't look to be able to 'spend' the Libra cryptocoin that Facebook is launching anytime soon. Seems the very existence of a possible Facebook currency has riled up the EU central bankers as well as the U.S Congress. Britain, Germany and France central bankers are taking a really hard look at Libra with France coming out today and saying that Facebook may actually need a banking license. Expect more push back before Facebook is really able to launch. Oh, and note to the central bank regulators, Facebook's Libra "headquarters" is in Switzerland, NOT on their turf. The Swiss actually like innovation. More below.
Bill Taylor/Fintek Capital
"FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Three European central bankers are claiming oversight over Facebook’s planned virtual currency to ensure it will not jeopardize the financial system or be used to launder money.
Facebook drew worldwide interest this week when it announced plans to introduce a cryptocurrency called Libra, part of an effort to expand into digital payments.
Facebook said Libra would be backed by real-world assets, including bank deposits and short-term government securities, to make it more stable — and thus practical for payments and money transfers — than other cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.
With the potential to reach billions of internet users and the backing of payment giants like Visa, Facebook hopes Libra will not only power transactions but offer people without bank accounts access to financial services for the first time.
But the central bankers of Britain, France and Germany said Facebook should expect scrutiny.
“It has to be safe, or it’s not going to happen,” Bank of England Governor Mark Carney told the BBC in an interview broadcast on Friday.
“We, the Fed, all the major global central banks and supervisors, would have direct regulatory (oversight),” he said, referring to the U.S. Federal Reserve..."
Full Story at UK.Reuters