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 …

China has no specific launch date in mind for its digital currency, its central bank has said in fresh comments contradicting previous statements. Central bank governor: We need time to research As local English-language news outlet Global Times reported on Sept. 24, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has now denied Beijing is ready to debut its new financial asset. According to the publication, which did not quote governor Yi Gang directly, the PBoC “needs to research, test, evaluate and prevent risks.” “China's research and development of digital currency has achieved positive progress, but the country has no timetable to …

Chile’s central bank governor, Mario Marcel, says central bank digital currencies (CBDC) can provide additional flexibility at a time of “unconventional monetary policies.” Marcel made the comments in a speech titled “High-level Policy Panel Discussion on Central Bank Digital Currencies" at the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum held in Paris on Sept. 12. Disruptive FinTech addressing “some gaps” in traditional finance Marcel’s opening remarks acknowledged that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are already showing disruptive potential and provide some benefits over the legacy system. He said: “Disruptive technologies in Finance or ‘FinTech’ are transforming the financial industry landscape, challenging traditional business models. …

The head of the nonprofit organization behind Facebook’s Libra digital currency has said the company is committed to launching it and clearing regulatory hurdles. Perez: “We don’t want to be like BlackRock” In an interview with French news magazine Les Echos on Sept. 12, Bertrand Perez, director general of the Libra Association, said the token should appear in the second half of 2020. The comments came on the day that France’s economy and finance minister said the country would refuse to allow Libra to operate within its borders. As Cointelegraph reported, concerns over financial stability fuelled the resentment, with Bruno …

Automotive supplier Continental has unveiled an application called Earn As You Drive, which uses blockchain technology to monetize car user information. Parking space data for digital currency Forbes reported the news on Aug. 29. Per the report, Continental has partnered with tech firm Hewlett Packard Enterprise and open source network provider Crossbar.io to create Earn As You Drive. This application reportedly lets drivers opt in to earn digital currency for sharing information about street parking availability through vehicle sensors. The data is shared with a manufacturer, who in turn sends it to a third party parking service. The new app …

Encrypted messaging app Telegram will launch its Gram digital currency in October, investors have told mainstream media. Telegram tokens due in two months As The New York Times reported on Aug. 27, three anonymous investors in Telegram’s $1.7 billion private initial coin offering (ICO) said the company had confirmed it would issue the first tokens in two months’ time. Additionally, one Telegram Open Network (TON) investor in contact with Telegram’s team revealed that the company plans to begin publicly testing the platform starting Sept. 1. The long-term goal for executives is to make Gram available to all of Telegram’s roughly …

Rwanda’s central bank, the National Bank of Rwanda, is researching how to offer an official digital currency. BNN Bloomberg reported the news on Aug. 22. The central bank is said to be interested in offering digital currency as a means to increase transaction efficiency and foster economic growth. However, Financial Stability Director-General Peace Masozera Uwase warned work remains to be done before implementation is on the table, adding: “There are still concerns about how exactly you convert the entire currency into digital form, how to distribute that and how fast can you process those transactions [...] Challenges come in, if …

Paper money today is a marginal part of the currency in circulation and represents a direct relationship between the end user and the central bank. Its use is, however, unknown to the central bank; in a certain sense, it can therefore be said that like cryptocurrencies, cash can be used for illicit purposes. Central banks could start the process of digitizing paper money and thus create their own digital currency. Such a solution would have the great advantage of combating the shadow economy and illegal activities, and could be a viable alternative to corporate-backed digital currencies like Libra. Cash circulation …

Are those definitions universal? No, given that the space is continuously evolving. Cryptocurrencies as we know them have existed for just 10 years, while most government agencies started paying attention to them only three-five years ago, when Bitcoin’s popularity began rising dramatically along with its value. Notably, Facebook’s Libra has just caused another major stir among financial watchdogs: Certain countries are now forming task forces to discuss what Libra is and how it can be regulated. Thus, definitions for cryptocurrencies tend to vary among or even within jurisdictions: In the United States alone, five different regulatory agencies define cryptocurrencies in …

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 …

A former governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has indicated that Beijing may delegate the issuance of digital currency to commercial entities, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post newspaper reported on July 11. Zhou Xiaochuan, who stood down as head of the central bank in 2018 after 15 years, revealed the country may adopt a new approach for its sovereign digital currency scheme — taking inspiration from Hong Kong’s monetary system and Facebook’s Libra project. In Hong Kong, three banks issue their own banknotes and collateralize them by holding U.S. dollars in reserve, while the territory’s monetary …

Digital currency will form part of all four FANG companies’ offerings by 2021, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss told CNBC in a new interview on July 9. Speaking about Facebook Libra, the twins, who co-founded cryptocurrency trading platform Gemini, said it was only a matter of time before other tech giants followed suit. FANG refers to the unofficial “Big Four” of the internet: Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google. “Our prediction is every FANG company will have some sort of cryptocurrency project within the next two years,” Tyler told the network. Libra as a payment protocol has not yet launched, but regulators …