Any country seeing widespread use of Facebook’s proposed Libra digital currency could find that its central bank monetary policy is severely undermined. This is the view of Hiromi Yamaoka, former Bank of Japan executive, who oversaw research into digital currencies for the organization. “The emergence of Libra would pressure policymakers to discipline themselves” Issues are likely to arise “if Libra becomes more widely used than the sovereign currency of a particular country,” according to Yamaoka. But while this should not cause too much concern for countries with a strong market trust in their currencies, Libra could trigger or accelerate capital …

The official announcement and details around Project Libra were provided to the world on June 18, 2019. Firstly, Libra was introduced: a new global reserve-backed cryptocurrency built on top of the new Libra Blockchain, with everything governed by a not-for-profit consortium dubbed the Libra Association. It was clear that each of these products and technologies will play an integral role in the project’s overall mission of creating a simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people. Additionally, Facebook also announced the creation of Calibra, which is developing the initial business of Libra and its own product outside …

The United States Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs has ended the hearing on “Examining Regulatory Frameworks for Digital Currencies and Blockchain” today, July 30. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, Rebecca M. Nelson, a specialist in international trade and finance; and Mehrsa Baradaran, a professor of law at the University of California Irvine School of Law all testified before the committee. Lawmakers want the U.S. to lead in blockchain Senator Michael Crapo of Idaho began the hearing saying that cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are inevitable and could be beneficial, further noting that the U.S. should establish itself as a global …

Facebook has warned its investors that its Libra stablecoin may never be released, CNBC reports on July 29. Engaging with regulator “critical to Libra’s success” Facebook told its investors in its latest quarterly report that — while the firm expects to launch Libra next year — some factors could prevent its release. Iin the risk factors section of the document, the company admits that it recognizes the significance of the pushback shown by regulators towards Libra. CNBC also reported that a Facebook spokesperson told the outlet on Monday that: “Engaging with regulators, policymakers, and experts is critical to Libra’s success. …

Coming every Sunday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week Facebook to work ‘however long it takes’ to win over regulators on Libra Mark Zuckerberg turned on the charm offensive this week in an attempt to reassure governments and central banks that his social network is taking their concerns about Libra to heart. On a conference call, he told investors that Facebook has changed — …

Despite concerns expressed by many United States regulators during the recent House Committee on Financial Services’ hearing on Facebook’s proposed digital currency, Libra, an increasing number of U.S. lawmakers are speaking out in favor of developing a permissive regulatory apparatus to prevent stifling innovation in the cryptocurrency sector. Several days prior to the hearing, the passing of the Blockchain Promotion Act signposted the government’s intention to develop a prudent legislative framework to oversee possible implementation of blockchain technology in various public sectors. Skepticism pertaining to the operation of Facebook and its stablecoin project aside, the month’s regulatory proceeding indicated that …

Alexander Lipton, a connection science fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and adjunct professor of mathematics at New York University (NYU), has claimed that Libra’s white paper copied concepts for a coin proposed in his academic work. Lipton co-authored the paper “Digital trade coin: towards a more stable digital currency” in 2018. In a July 26 interview with CoinDesk, Lipton said: “Without being particularly obnoxious, I can tell you that the actual structure of Libra is pretty much lifted verbatim from the paper which Sandy Pentland and Thomas Hardjono and I published last year.” Additionally, Lipton noted that …

Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz argued that institutional interest would push Bitcoin (BTC) price back to its all-time highs of $20,000 before the end of 2019. Novogratz delivered his comments in an interview with Bloomberg on July 25. Speaking about where Bitcoin price will be going by the end of the year, Novogratz recalled the coin’s significant move from $4,000 to almost $13,500, further projecting that the price will likely consolidate in the range between $10,000 and $14,000. Novogratz thus reiterated the prediction he made in late June. He said that once institutions show increased interest in the cryptocurrency again, …

Online brokerage Monex Group Inc., owner of the hacked Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck, plans to join the Facebook Libra cryptocurrency project. A report from Cointelegraph Japan today, July 26, reveals that Monex Group's CEO Oki Matsumoto announced the company had filed an application to join the Libra Association during a press conference on Monex's Q2 2019 financial results earlier this week. The Libra Association is the newly-established, independent governance consortium for Facebook’s planned stablecoin, dubbed Libra, and is currently negotiating with a host of other potential members — including Visa, Uber, Mastercard and eBay. Entrance fees As Cointelegraph previously reported, …

The CEO of Chinese tech giant Huawei thinks that China can compete with Facebook for market share by issuing its own digital currency. Huawei CEO: “Why wait for others to issue it?” As national news outlet Sina reported quoting a press conference in Italy on July 18, Ren Zhengfei believes China can easily create a digital currency with the same value proposition as Facebook’s Libra. “China can also issue such a currency by itself. Why wait for others to issue it? The power of a country is always stronger than an Internet company,” he said responding to a question from …

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of blockchain and crypto firm Ripple, is concerned about potentially stricter regulation for the digital currency industry that could result from Facebook’s not-yet-issued Libra stablecoin. Garlinghouse delivered his comments in an interview with Fortune on July 25. Garlinghouse said, "You just want to make sure that you don't get caught in the crossfire. It is important to me that when regulators start asking questions that they don't lump us into one big bucket." Libra helped XRP increase the number of contracts However, in an interview at Fortune Brainstorm Finance conference in June, Garlinghouse said that a cryptocurrency …

Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company will work as long as it takes to appease regulators’ concerns over its Libra stablecoin. Zuckerberg delivered his statements during the firms Q2 results conference call on July 24. During the call, Zuckerberg said that — some years ago — Facebook would have just released a new product without prior warning, but now the company has changed. More precisely, he stated: “We've opened a period of – however long it takes to address regulators and different experts and constituents’ questions about this and then figure out what the best way …