The slow march to death for released a statement in response to the G7 report.
In it, the group tackles the G7’s concerns point by point, vowing to work with regulators to address concerns. Because you know, it has to play nice if it wants a shot at ever existing.
“In recognition of the importance of the stability of the global financial system and national sovereignty over monetary policy, Libra is being designed to work with existing regulatory institutions and apply the protections they provide to the digital world”not disrupt or undermine them,” the statement reads.
While the G7 report isn’t the final nail in Libra’s coffin, it is a telling sign that global regulators aren’t sold on Facebook’s vision either. That’s already had consequences.
When Libra launched back in June, it had 27 companies in its corner, including well-known payments institutions like Visa and Mastercard. But straight out of the gate, the cryptocurrency was met with opposition from the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services and the Senate Banking Committee.
That in turn led to rumours that Libra partners were getting cold feet by late August, with PayPal officially calling it quits in early October.
A few days later, eBay, Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard also jumped ship. Adding salt to the wound, Calibra, the subsidiary running the cryptocurrency is facing a lawsuit alleging its logo was ripped off from Current, a mobile banking app.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on October 23. He’ll likely need to address the many concerns brought up by the G7, as well as the fact that major backers meant to lend Libra credibility have since distanced themselves from the project.
Given how Zuckerberg’s recent attempts at talking like a human have gone, maybe he’ll be the one to inadvertently put Libra out of its misery.
[Reuters]