David Marcus, the head of Calibra at Facebook, emphasized that Libra users will not have to put their trust in Facebook, in a post on July 3. Marcus reiterated that Facebook is not the only member of the Libra Network, and that they are relinquishing control of the network. In the post, he says: “Facebook will not control the network, the currency, or the reserve backing it. Facebook will only be one among over a hundred members of the Libra Association by launch. We will not have any special rights or privileges.” Relinquishing control over the infrastructure behind Libra is …

The United States House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services requested Facebook and its partners to stop the development of the Libra stablecoin. In a July 2 letter addressed to Facebook CEOs Mark Zuckerberg and David Marcus, and COO Sheryl Sandberg, the lawmakers request that Facebook and its partners immediately agree to a moratorium on the development of Libra and its dedicated Calibra wallet. The committee claims that the project may lead ”to an entirely new global financial system that is based out of Switzerland and intended to rival U.S. monetary policy and the dollar.” The committee notes that it …

Nobel prize-winning economist, Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, claims that “every currency is based on trust, but only a fool would trust Facebook’s Libra” in an article published on July 2. Stiglitz also notes that “in just a few short years, Facebook has earned a level of distrust that took the banking sector much longer to achieve.” He appears to fear that Facebook’s cryptocurrency could be hospitable to a shadow economy: “The last thing we need is a new vehicle for nurturing illicit activities and laundering the proceeds, which another cryptocurrency will almost certainly turn out to be.” Still, the economist also …

Over 30 advocacy groups have appeared as signatories on a request that Congress and regulators implement an official moratorium on Libra development, as per the letter published on July 2. The letter was also addressed to Facebook, with Mark Zuckerberg himself cc’d, and asked that the social media giant wait until Congress and regulators have scrutinized a detailed presentation of the proposed stablecoin-esque virtual currency. The letter includes a number of questions that the signatories say need answers before Libra can proceed, including the following: “The plan for Libra makes explicit and implicit promises to consumers – such as the …

Financial services firm Jefferies’ recent survey indicates that American users will hardly use Facebook’s forthcoming stablecoin Libra due to a lack of trust, The Block reported on July 1 In the survey, which included over 600 respondents, four in five people reportedly chose “Unlikely” or “Very unlikely” when asked whether they would purchase Libra. 45% of the respondents explained their unwillingness to buy the coin as due to a lack of trust in Facebook, unless the company has no access to their transaction data. Nearly 40% of those surveyed reportedly pointed out that they already have a mobile payment wallet, …

The non-custodial crypto wallet solution ZenGo has created an open source project that purportedly provides proof-of-concept (PoC) for its ability to support social media giant Facebook’s virtual currency Libra, according to an official announcement by ZenGo on July 2. According to the announcement, this proof-of-concept project shows that it is possible to perform Libra transactions on the Libra testnet blockchain. However, the findings are limited, as the report cautions: “Obviously, this experiment is only based on a testnet and we will have to explore further once Libra makes its mainnet available. Additionally, there is no user interface in this PoC …

Social media giant Facebook has applied for a cryptocurrency business license to use its announced virtual currency Libra in New York, according to a report by Reuters on June 28 New York requires a special license for crypto operations called the BitLicense, which is a product of the state’s finance regulator, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). According to the report, Facebook has also been in contact with regulators in England and Switzerland, presumably to discuss the terms of Libra compliance. Facebook is reportedly aiming to launch Libra by 2020, and a spokesperson for the social media …

Russia will not develop a separate regulation for Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra, according to Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev, Interfax reported on July 1 Moiseev stated that Russia will not introduce separate legislation for Libra as there will be uniform rules for all circulating digital currencies. "No one is going to introduce a ban. A large number of businesses ask when it will finally be possible to legally conduct an ICO [initial coin offering] transparently. This will definitely be regulated, permitted, and that is about it," Moiseev said. Moiseev noted that the issue is whether "cryptocurrency will have approximately the same …

Cyber threat intelligence firm Digital Shadows has discovered over 100 fake domains registered relating to Facebook’s forthcoming stablecoin Libra, the Independent reported on July 1 As of June 19, researchers at Digital Shadows had found over 100 domains registered relating to Libra and several dozen referring to the associated digital wallet Calibra, with some of them containing malicious content. The firm divided the websites into two groups — those impersonating Libra’s official website, and those promoting scams. “Instead of relying on media buzz and hype around the brand, these types of scams instead aim to convince victims that they are …

The increased penetration of cryptocurrency in the digital payment arena appears to be affecting the landscape of cross-border remittances. Financial institutions and other mainstream establishments are now jostling with blockchain startups for control over an industry that could possibly experience massive growth over the next few years. With more participants comes greater competition and an emphasis on creating the most robust operating technology. To achieve this aim, some players are leveraging their status as giants of their respective mainstream fields while others are pursuing partnerships and collaborations. For historically unbanked and underbanked areas of the world, the emerging landscape is …

Speaking to Cointelegraph at Blockchain Week Rome, Teck Chia, partner at Binance Labs, said that he sees Facebook’s Libra Project at a step forward for crypto and increasing public awareness. In Chia’s own words: “I think having a company like Facebook, with such tremendous reach and distribution, into all different countries around the world – having them be interested in cryptocurrency and launching one is a very very positive thing for our industry. It brings a ton of awareness to people who have never heard of cryptocurrency.” Binance is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world at present. …

Only 66 stablecoins — 30% of total announced tokens — are actually live and operational, according to a study published by the blockchain research group Blockdata on June 26 The remaining 70% are either still in development or have shut down entirely. Researchers from Blockdata believe that one consequence of this is that 2019–2020 may see a record high of new stablecoins going live, with 119 estimated to launch in 2019. Researchers also examined possible factors may have led to the closure of failed stablecoins. Failed stablecoins, according to the study, tend to be commodity-backed by assets such as gold. …