Bitcoin (BTC) will be the ultimate benefactor from interest in Facebook Libra and cryptocurrencies, billionaire Tim Draper has said. Bridges to a ‘Bitcoin environment’ Speaking to CNBC in an interview on July 19, Draper, who is well known as a Bitcoin advocate, defended both Libra and Bitcoin against recent pressure from governments, particularly in the United States. Asked whether the world was now in a post-Bitcoin environment, he argued that Bitcoin represented the true innovation from the cryptocurrency world, and would ultimately be the tool that reshaped borders, finance and government power. “I think all these other cryptos are bridges …

Benoit Coeure, a board member of the European Central Bank, said that Facebook’s Libra coin will not launch until global regulators are satisfied. Speaking to Reuters at the G7 summit in Chantilly, France on July 18, Coeure said that the proposed stablecoin must be guaranteed to be safe for users before it can launch: “You’ve got to be safe, robust and resilient from day one. It’s not a learning process: either it works or it doesn’t.” Coeure stated that guaranteeing the protection of user privacy and ownership rights may require significant consideration and lengthy discussion by regulators: “Down the road …

Coming every Sunday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week Libra hearings: Hostility and criticism as Congress grills Facebook executive A godsend to drug dealers. More dangerous than 9/11. A global economic threat. Congress was given two days to grill the head of Facebook’s Calibra wallet, David Marcus, over the upcoming Libra cryptocurrency, and it didn’t hold back. The Senate Banking Committee went first on …

Bank of Thailand governor Veerathai Santiprabhob said that the institution is open to discussing Facebook’s Libra stablecoin with the company, Chinese state-run press agency Xinhuanet reported on July 19. Per the report, Santiprabhob made his remarks at the Bangkok FinTech Fair on July 19, pointing out that Facebook had already contacted the central bank many times. He also noted that the institution had established a new team to study Libra’s whitepaper, but their analysis will take time. “We are not going to rush into a decision of Libra as yet,” Santiprabhob reportedly said, continuing to emphasize the importance of security: …

CEO of the world’s largest exchange-traded fund provider BlackRock claimed that he does not consider Facebook’s Libra a cryptocurrency. The need to democratize foreign currency exchange In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box on July 19, BlackRock’s Larry Fink emphasized that there is a huge need to democratize the exchange of foreign currencies in cross-border transactions and to bring down the fees of the interchange. The financial executive pointed out the existing problem of overcharging cross-border transactions, claiming that people who need to send money worldwide usually use organizations that charge from five to ten percent. To reduce interchange fees, …

The head of Germany's central bank Jens Weidmann spoke in favor of Facebook’s Libra during a recent G7 event. Bundesbank head warns against suppressing innovation Weidmann, Bundesbank President and the Governing Council member of the European Central Bank, argued that global regulators should not suppress the project in its infancy, according to an email newsletter in a shared by eToro senior market analyst Mati Greenspan on July 19. According to the letter, Weidmann reportedly supported the Libra project during a recent G7 meeting, arguing that digital currencies such as Libra can be attractive to consumers in case if they deliver …

A United States Democratic congressman has claimed “Mark Zuckerberg is sending a friend request to oligarchs, drug dealers, human traffickers and terrorists” by launching Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency. In a combative tweet on July 17, Brad Sherman described Libra as the “Zuck Buck” and he accused the Facebook CEO of deliberately attempting to circumvent America’s anti-money laundering laws. Sherman’s post was accompanied by a mock Facebook screenshot that showed Zuckerberg sending drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman a friend request. Underneath, the billionaire’s other friends are listed as the Palestinian group Hamas (which the U.S. and the EU designate as a …

The United States Congress’ hearings on Libra are over. First, on July 16, the Senate Banking Committee held a testimony on Facebook’s cryptocurrency project, which was followed by a meeting organized by the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on the next day. David Marcus, a Facebook executive and head of the social media giant’s crypto subsidiary, Calibra, testified on behalf of Libra at both hearings. The legislators extensively interviewed him for two days in a row, mainly inquiring about the project’s privacy and safety. Here are the main outtakes from those sessions. Senators used the opportunity to grill Facebook …

Cryptocurrencies such as Libra risk upsetting the world’s financial system if they are not regulated tightly, G7 finance ministers have warned. According to Reuters, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire told a news conference on July 18 that the G7 “cannot accept private companies issuing their own currencies without democratic control.” His remarks followed informal talks in Paris, where the Group of Seven expressed vehement opposition to the prospect of firms having as much power as countries in creating means of payment. The ministers and central bank governors also warned: “Stablecoins and other various new products currently being developed, including …

China is the global leader when it comes to searching for “Facebook Libra” on Google one month after the release of Libra’s white paper. China keeping a close eye on Facebook’s Libra As of July 18, China is the first in the list of countries googling of Facebook’s new cryptocurrency project, according to data from Google Trends. Based on the data, China has the highest proportion of search queries for Libra, with a maximum value of the query popularity of 100. The top five countries include St. Helena, ranked second with a value of 37, as well as Singapore, Hong …

The Japanese government is attempting to spearhead the creation of a new, global cryptocurrency payments network that would be similar to SWIFT. Replace SWIFT with a global crypto payments network? Citing an anonymous source, a Reuters report published on July 18 claimed that the country’s push for the network is motivated by a resolve to combat money laundering more effectively. While plans are being kept firmly under wraps, the source alleged that Tokyo hopes to have the network established within the next few years. Plans for the network were reportedly initially proposed by Japan’s Ministry of Finance and its national …

New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez addressed the control of Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency in today’s United States House Committee on Financial Services hearing. As per a recording of the event, provided by C-Span on July 17, Ocasio-Cortez addressed Calibra wallet CEO David Marcus, asking, “Facebook wants to establish a currency and act through its wallet as — at minimum — a payment processor. Why should these activities be consolidated under one corporation?” Regarding the membership of the Libra Association, Ocasio-Cortez asked, “Were they democratically elected?” After Marcus answered that it was not, but was governed by membership standards, Ocasio-Cortez summed up …