Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg is in talks with the House Financial Services Committee to testify on Libra, Facebook’s stablecoin. Discussions on market power and Libra According to a Bloomberg article from Sept. 26, Facebook is currently trying to get its chief operating officer Sandberg in front of the House Financial Services Committee, perhaps as soon as next month. Sandberg is expected to testify on the social media giant’s global market power and its plans to launch its stablecoin Libra in 2020, a source familiar with the talks told Bloomberg. Sanberg’s previously testified in front of the Senate Intelligence …

The Libra Association is in talks with European Union regulators, according to its managing director, according to an interview with Reuters, Sept. 27. Bertrand Perez said that discussions were ongoing and there was still work to do, in one of his first public appearances on the job at a blockchain conference in Geneva, where the association is based. Facebook’s Libra faced a cold reception in France and Germany Since Facebook announced its intention to launch the Libra cryptocurrency, it has faced scrutiny from regulatory bodies across Europe and North America. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has resorted to wining and dining …

When Facebook published the Libra white paper in June 2019, shockwaves were felt across the crypto markets the world over. Triggering the end of a long bear market, Bitcoin soared past the iconic $10,000 mark, and many prominent altcoins rose on the back of a phenomenon now known as the “Libra Effect.” As so often occurs alongside milestone cryptocurrency announcements, Facebook’s venture into digital payments was also met with a barrage of criticism. Regulators and politicians on both sides of the Atlantic are calling either for intense scrutiny of the project or an outright ban. Fears abound that by launching …

Many people have heard of blockchain technology, but few know what to make of it. Some people will tell you that it’s the next big thing, poised to disrupt almost every industry under the sun and reshape the world, affecting everything from real estate to education to the very structure of modern democracy. Others will assert that blockchain is technically advanced and theoretically interesting, but overhyped and impractical. Many proposed uses for blockchain will remain forever implausible: Blockchain will not bring peace to the Middle East, and today’s blockchain solutions are inefficient. But the technology is improving and the ecosystem …

The major flaw in Facebook’s planned cryptocurrency, Libra, is that it’s a closed system — akin to a “walled garden.” That’s the argument made by Marcus Treacher, Ripple’s senior vice president of customer success, in a CNBC interview published on Sept. 27. “Walled garden” strategies and the antitrust pushback The “walled garden” metaphor has notably been used in the past to refer to commercial strategies pursued by tech giants such as Apple, who endeavor to retain complete control over the software, apps and accessories related to their proprietary devices. This very strategy has come under fire during recent attempts to …

Facebook is taking a much more careful approach to Libra than its previous projects, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed. Zuckerberg on Libra: Talking first, rollout second Speaking in an interview with Asia-based news outlet Nikkei on Sept. 26, Zuckerberg appeared to show a rare display of fear in the face of mounting regulatory scrutiny of Libra. Facebook’s digital currency has come under fire from governments worldwide since its whitepaper appeared several months ago. High-profile regulatory hearings have so far failed to quash the negative reactions; governments fear Libra will undermine fiat currency systems. “Part of the approach and how we've …

Ex-United States Federal Reserve official Simon Potter has said that proposals to end the U.S. dollar’s dominance by replacing it with a digital currency make no sense. Central banks unlikely to coordinate Last month, Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney suggested ending the U.S. dollar’s dominance by replacing it with a digital currency, such as Facebook’s planned stablecoin, Libra. Carney said that he considered this to be a better option than allowing it to be replaced by another national currency such as China’s renminbi. On Sept. 25, Potter, a former senior Federal Reserve official who ran the New …

Yesterday, Sept. 24, Cointelegraph reported from the United States House Financial Services hearing with the chairman and four commissioners of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The hearing was informational and touched on a number of issues that have been plaguing the conversation in the U.S. about regulating cryptocurrencies — a conversation that the release of Facebook’s white paper for Libra in June amplified significantly. Congressional attitudes: A study in contrasts The range of attitudes on display yesterday among members of the Financial Services Committee was broad. Brad Sherman — who coined the term “Zuck Buck” back in July — …

David Marcus, the head of Facebook's Calibra wallet, has set forth arguments in favor of blockchain-based payment networks. In a Sept. 25 blog post, Marcus pointed out shortcomings of existing payment systems such as regional and international networks, including SWIFT and RT1, central banks and others. Marcus began by noting the weakness of the underlying infrastructure of the current system — limiting its efficiency and reach. In one case, Marcus wrote, an individual can send and receive funds from within one wallet, while not being able to do the same between wallets from different companies. He went on to explain: …

Facebook’s Libra has pushed central banks to consider two major issues in global payment systems, an exec at the European Central Bank (ECB) said. Benoit Coeure made his remarks at a hearing of the Committee on the Digital Agenda in the German parliament on Sept. 25. According to Coeure, an ECB board member and chair of the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructure, global payment systems still lack access and efficiency of cross-border retail payments. As such, 1.7 billion adults globally have no access to basic payment services despite 1.1 billion of them having a mobile phone and one in …

The ripples of the Libra effect are beginning to lap against the shores of Europe, with French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire suggesting that Europe should throw its hat into the ring and launch its own digital currency. Le Maire’s announcement comes at a time when EU politicians are becoming increasingly vocal about Libra and digital currencies in general. Speaking at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Helsinki, Le Maire told journalists that he would discuss the feasibility of a European public digital currency with his counterparts in October. Charles Hoskinson, CEO of blockchain engineering startup IOHK, explained to …

In advance: As Cointelegraph reported on Sept. 20, the United States House of Representatives Financial Services Committee is holding a hearing today, Sept. 24, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton and four other SEC commissioners. At the time of the announcement, the published agenda included such critical topics for Cointelegraph’s readers as the SEC's "Howey test" for considering cryptocurrencies securities, regulation strategy for Facebook's Libra, the 144A exemption that crypto offerers like Van Eck operate under, and more general "Environmental, social, and governance" (ESG) matters. 10:06 The hearing begins Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters began the …