Bank of England governor Mark Carney said that people need to acknowledge the issues Facebook is attempting to solve with Libra, regardless of the project’s potential downsides. Carney delivered his remarks at the Financial Stability Report press conference as seen on the Bank of England’s YouTube channel on July 11. Carney said: “It’s way too expensive to do domestic payments. It’s way too slow, and that hurts consumers and businesses. It stifles innovation, and it’s far too expensive to send money cross-border, and there are huge financial inclusion issues related to that and costs related to that. So, while we …

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 …

Bitcoin price (BTC) shed more than 10% on July 11 as markets appeared to react to criticism of Facebook’s Libra from a senior United States lawmaker. Market visualization courtesy of Coin360 Data from Coin360 sees the majority of cryptocurrencies firmly in the red Thursday, hours after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Facebook’s offering should not continue development. Libra, which aims to act firstly as a cross-border payment method, allegedly buoyed Bitcoin throughout recent weeks, with commentators arguing its public profile was driving publicity and uptake of Bitcoin itself. Powell’s demands, which follow similar words from representatives of the Senate …

Facebook’s unveiling of its Libra cryptocurrency has generated a lot of attention in the financial world, as well as in the crypto space. So far, the company has announced that its Libra blockchain network will be launched in 2020 and backed by a separate entity, the Libra Foundation. The cryptocurrency is set to enable users to make faster and cheaper international payments online, using platforms such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. The Libra currency Just like any other cryptocurrency, Libra is set to have its own wallet called Calibra. Users would be able to send and receive Libra through this …

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said there needs to be broad satisfaction with the way Facebook is handling regulatory concerns regarding its forthcoming stablecoin Libra. Powell gave his comments in a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on July 10. Rep. Steve Stivers asked Powell during the meeting, “if Facebook can’t sufficiently answer your questions about anti-money laundering, Know Your Customer, what would your message be to the banks that provide banking to Facebook, and what would your advice to Facebook be?” Powell replied: “ … I just think it cannot go forward without there being broad satisfaction with …

Facebook’s long-awaited stablecoin Libra could face a difficult roll out in Thailand due to the coin’s uncertain legal status in the country, an expert told the Bangkok Post on July 9. Fiscal Policy Office legal officer Sumaporn Manason argued that Libra will likely run up against difficulties entering Thailand as the cryptocurrency does not fall under any of local financial legislation. Sumaporn stated: “The cryptocurrency does not fit under the Bank of Thailand's Currency Act because it does not have the characteristics of legal tender as stipulated by law. These characteristics refer to a banknote or coin having value in …

Global payment giant Visa has recorded its second investment in a crypto project by leading a $40 million funding round of Anchorage startup, according to a Fortune report on July 10. Visa has reportedly led the round along with major cryptocurrency venture capital (VC) firm Blockchain Capital to support institutional-grade crypto custody service Anchorage, which previously raised $17 million in an investment led by Andreessen Horowitz. In the new round, both the amount of Visa’s contribution and Anchorage’s private valuation were not disclosed, the report notes. Both Visa and Anchorage are founding members of Facebook’s cryptocurrency project Libra, which was …

Facebook’s Libra payment protocol could make central and commercial banks irrelevant, but PayPal has no future anyway, the CEO of derivatives giant BitMEX thinks. Arthur Hayes made the comments in a new interview with Taiwanese news network BlockTempo TV on July 9. Speaking during this year’s Asia Blockchain Summit (ABS), Hayes made grim forecasts for both banks and fiat-based payment networks. Libra, which saw its white paper release last month but has yet to launch, has drawn both praise and criticism from across the international economy. For Hayes, participants who should be most worried are banks themselves. Even if Libra …

The former governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) says “China should take precautions” against the trend represented by Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency. Twitter-based Chinese crypto news source CnLedger reported on Xiaochuan Zhou’s remarks on July 9. Zhou notably served as PBoC governor between 2003 and 2018, a period which saw Beijing pursue its notorious onslaught of anti-crypto regulations — including the historic blanket criminalization of initial coin offerings (ICOs) and exchange crackdown. CnLedger reports that Zhou characterized Libra as representative of the global trend in cryptocurrencies — singling out its stablecoin-like properties and ambitions to tackle the pain point …

David Marcus, the head of Calibra at Facebook, has written a letter to Chairwoman Maxine Waters and members of the House Financial Services Committee in preparation for the upcoming Libra hearings, according to a report by The Hill on July 9. According to the report, Marcus wrote, "I want to give you my personal assurance that we are committed to taking the time to do this right.” In addition to being the head of the Calibra wallet, LinkedIn lists David Marcus as the co-creator of Libra. Marcus’ letter is only the latest in a lengthy rally between Congress and Facebook …

India’s authorities have expressed concern over Facebook’s forthcoming stablecoin Libra, Bloomberg reported on July 8. Subhash Garg, Economic Affairs Secretary at India’s Ministry of Finance, told Bloomberg that the “design of the Facebook currency has not been fully explained. But whatever it is, it would be a private cryptocurrency and that’s not something we have been comfortable with.” Facebook’s Libra is set to be a stablecoin pegged to a reserve of assets which would purportedly preclude the coin from volatility. In late June, Dovey Wan of Primitive Ventures argued that Libra carries the risk of becoming a financial monopoly as …