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The world’s largest source of connecting people, Facebook has just warned investors in its recently announced quarterly report that it has planned to launch digital currency — Libra in 2020, a number of factors could influence Facebook’s plans.
While discussing the risk factors about the launch of cryptocurrency, Facebook said it recognizes the significance of the pushback that’s come from lawmakers and regulators since the project was announced in June.
Meanwhile, Facebook has argued in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission; “Libra has drawn significant scrutiny from governments and regulators in multiple jurisdictions and we expect that scrutiny to continue.”
Though Facebook claims that Calibra customers’ account information and financial data will not be used to improve ad targeting on the Facebook family of products, it has become difficult for users to trust its policies now. A blog post by Facebook reads;
“In addition, market acceptance of such currency is subject to significant uncertainty. As such, there can be no assurance that Libra or our associated products and services will be made available in a timely manner, or at all. We do not have significant prior experience with digital currency or blockchain technology, which may adversely affect our ability to successfully develop and market these products and services.”
Interestingly, the development head of Libra and the Calibra (digital wallet) project at Facebook, David Marcus claims that the currency will be “a more efficient, low-cost and secure alternative” payment tool for people who can’t afford to transfer money using traditional methods.
Soon after disclosing plans for Libra and Calibra last month, Facebook has been facing criticism from public officials in the U.S. and abroad. Earlier this month, a marketing professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, stated that Facebook wants to make sending money as easy as sending a photo: digital, immediate, free and secure. Considering the large user base of social networking giant and the team of 28 founding companies called the Libra Association, Galloway has termed them “Mild horror”.
Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell have also raised concerns with Libra, and similar reservations have been raised by French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and European Central Bank Executive Board Member Benoit Coeure.
