On Oct. 23, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of social media platform Facebook, appeared before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee to testify on the prospective global cryptocurrency Libra, which his company is backing. He ended up enduring almost six hours of mostly critical questioning, as some of the legislators used the occasion to raise their concerns about many problematic aspects of Zuckerberg’s social media empire, even those not directly related to the cryptocurrency’s operation. Those who expected the hearings to shed light on many substantive questions regarding Libra’s design and regulatory status that remain unanswered were likely left disappointed. …

A professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business says cryptocurrencies will put an end to the windfall that banks currently enjoy from low-interest deposits. In an Oct 24 interview for the university, Dean Witter Distinguished Professor of Finance Darrell Duffies said that one way or another, cryptocurrencies are likely to upend banks’ business model within the next decade. Major disruption inevitable Professor Duffie said the public should not be misled by the relatively still-low levels of adoption of decentralized cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC); nor should they take the pushback against Facebook’s Libra as the sign of a moratorium on …

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square, made it crystal clear that Twitter will never join Facebook’s Libra project. "Nothing within Libra had to be a cryptocurrency” On Oct. 24, per a Twitter thread by Hollywood Reporter editor Alex Weprin, who was covering an event at Twitter's New York office, Jack Dorsey made it abundantly clear that Twitter will stay a million miles away from Facebook’s plans to launch its Libra stablecoin in 2020. The Twitter CEO reportedly gave a straightforward answer to the question if Twitter would ever consider joining Facebook’s Libra project. His response was short but all-telling: …

Yesterday, Oct. 23, Cointelegraph reported from the United States House of Representatives as the Financial Services Committee questioned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for over six hours. While focused on the Libra Association and its planned Libra token, the hearing expanded to touch on a wide range of concerns and controversies surrounding Facebook. The hearing was often contentious, with several members of Congress using their allotted five minutes of questioning to rail against Zuckerberg rather than ask him a single question. As Congressman Warren Davidson wryly commented to Cointelegraph, “I don’t think day-to-day at his company he gets treated that way …

Alfred F. Kelly, CEO of major payment processor Visa, has said that the company is still in discussions with Facebook on the Libra project. In an interview with finance and economics-focused publication Economic Value on Oct. 24, Kelly assured the interviewer that Visa still maintains a close relationship with Facebook on the subject, as it believes that digital currencies provide safer payments to more people and places. Kelly said: “As a curious and open company — and given the leadership we have in the payments ecosystem — we want to engage in everything in the payment space until we reach …

The United States congressman who said the country should ban cryptocurrency returned to publicly slating the phenomenon this week. Sherman: Crypto could “achieve its objectives” During the latest hearing over Facebook’s Libra digital currency on Oct. 23, Brad Sherman used his chance to speak to deliver fresh criticism of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and their alleged use cases. Sherman, who was already well known as an opponent of any money that challenges the U.S. dollar’s role as a global reserve currency, built on his previous claims from May when quizzing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “I’m not here to be …

Facebook’s Libra stablecoin would be a serious threat to WeChat Pay, the payment service’s parent company Tencent admitted in a recent blockchain whitepaper. Asian news outlet EjinSight reported on Oct. 24 that in the document Tencent acknowledges that international expansion of Chinese mobile payments offerings would be threatened if Libra launched. In the newly released whitepaper, Tencent illustrated the effectiveness of Libra’s expansion strategy: “It’s a safe play resorting to the strategy of ‘encircling the cities from the rural areas,’ in which Libra coin could quickly enter markets with underdeveloped financial infrastructure, especially those that do not have a credible …

Zeeshan Feroz, United Kingdom CEO of Coinbase, has argued that we need centralized entities like central banks and Facebook to support the crypto ecosystem. In an interview with CNBC published on Oct. 24, Feroz said he saw two ways for cryptocurrency to go mainstream: central bank digital currency (CBDC) issuance and Facebook’s Libra. Central banks will catalyze adoption better than Silicon Valley As distinct from cryptocurrencies, a CBDC is a digital currency issued by a central bank, whose legal tender status depends on government regulation or law. CBDCs such as a digital US dollar or British pound, Feroz argued, could …

At Vanity Fair’s New Establishment Summit, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said that Coinbase has generated close to $2 billion in trading fees since it launched in 2012. On Oct. 23, the co-founder and CEO of major United States cryptocurrency exchange and wallet provider Coinbase told Vanity Fair that technology has always been the focus of Coinbase, which, in part, is the reason why the company has remained profitable. Coinbase has been profitable since 2017 and has generated close to $2 billion in trading commissions since the company launched back in 2012. Armstrong added: “Most of these profits we’re plowing back …

Following testimony before the United States House of Representatives Financial Services Committee earlier today, lawmakers are still concerned about the possible launch of the Libra stablecoin. On Oct. 23, legislators heard statements from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and posed questions covering a variety of topics from Libra to Facebook's data policies and reaction to possible foreign influences on the platform. Following the hearing, the committee's chair, Maxine Waters, told Cointelegraph, "I don't support Libra at all at this point." Waters added: "And it's not as if I support it if it does this or if it does that. At this …

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before the United States House of Representatives Financial Services Committee today regarding the Libra stablecoin project. Facebook’s Libra vs. China’s digital renminbi During the much-anticipated hearings before Congress on Oct. 23, lawmakers and the CEO discussed the growing competition with China on the economic and geopolitical stage. In his prepared statements to the Committee, Zuckerberg stated that the project would ensure that the U.S. stays a financial leader globally: "China is moving quickly to launch a similar idea in the coming months. We can't sit here and assume that because America is today the leader …

The United States Department of the Treasury has agreed to the need for an investigation into Facebook’s forthcoming Libra stablecoin following a letter from Representative Emanuel Cleaver. Per a press release published on Congressman Cleaver’s website on Oct. 22, the Treasury provided an affirmative response to Cleaver’s appeal to examine Libra and its corresponding wallet Calibra for potential systemic risk. Cleaver sent the letter to Facebook, Calibra, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), and the Office of Financial Research in August. In September, Facebook stated that it would postpone the Libra launch until U.S. regulators approve it. Questioning regulators’ ability …