A former economic adviser to United States President Donald Trump has expressed support for Facebook’s stablecoin Libra, Yahoo Finance reported on June 24. In an interview with Yahoo Finance, conservative economist and fellow at The Heritage Foundation Stephen Moore said that he thinks “on balance it is a good thing [Libra].” Moore stated: “It’s interesting, because this [Libra] represents a new challenge for central bankers that they now have competition from private currencies. Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, by contrast, said that Facebook’s Libra token is like “a centralized wolf in a decentralized sheep’s clothing,” following the release of Libra’s white …

Facebook has started advertising for a head of data science to work on its Calibra wallet, a recent job posting shows. According to the tech giant’s vacancy, it is looking for an “experienced analytics leader” who can use data to drive insights, shape the wallet’s future direction, and measure product success. Understanding how users interact with the product and identifying opportunities is listed among the responsibilities. Leadership experience features among the minimum qualifications, along with at least eight years’ experience of quantitative analysis. Describing the perfect candidate, Facebook said they would be “scrappy, results-focused and self-starting” — as well as …

Data from Google Trends’ search analytics resource indicates that internet googling of ‘bitcoin’ (BTC) is approaching a monthly high as of today, June 24. According to the data, searches for bitcoin are continuing their ascent in the week after the unveiling of Facebook’s new cryptocurrency and blockchain-powered financial infrastructure project, Libra, even as searches for Libra itself have tapered off since June 18 — the date the white paper for the forthcoming token was published. Google trends data for search terms ‘bitcoin’ vs. ‘libra.’ As of June 24 2019 As Cointelegraph noted yesterday, from a wider perspective, the number of …

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) has warned that the financial services poised to be offered by big tech firms such as Facebook, Google and Amazon could generate new risks for the banking sector. The BIS — an international financial institution in Switzerland owned by 60 of the world’s central banks — published a report outlining its stance on June 23. Hot on the heels of Facebook’s newly-announced cryptocurrency, Libra, the BIS said that while big tech firms’ foray into finance can bring efficiency gains and broaden financial inclusion, regulators must step up their action to mitigate the new and …

Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin said that Facebook’s Libra token is like “a centralized wolf in a decentralized sheep’s clothing” in an article published on tech news outlet Quartz on June 21. The social media giant released the white paper for a its cryptocurrency dubbed Libra earlier this month to mixed reviews from experts in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries and concern from government regulators. In his article, Lubin notes that Libra’s white paper describes feelings common among many in the cryptocurrency community. It states that “sending money across the globe should be as simple and inexpensive as sending a message …

Coming every Sunday, the 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 Four big reasons bitcoin’s price will probably not stop at $20K this time Bitcoin crossed $11,000 in under 24 hours after breaking the important level of $10,000 on Friday, ETH hit a 10-month high, while crypto markets see solid green by the end of the week. Cointelegraph explores the main factors driving the rally …

Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Philip Lowe, cautions that Facebook’s announced virtual currency—Libra—may not attain mainstream usage in the near future, according to a report by Bloomberg on June 20 The report quotes Lowe as follows regarding Libra: “There’s a lot of water under the bridge before Facebook’s proposal becomes something we’re using all the time [...] There are a lot of regulatory issues that need to be addressed and they’ve got to make sure there’s a solid business case, so we’ve got to be careful before we jump to conclusions.” Lowe reportedly also criticized the top …

This article has been updated on June 22 to correct that the company started by the Winklevoss twins is called Gemini Trust LLC rather than Gemini Capital, that it does not have a Bitlicense but instead is regulated by the NYFDS, and that it is not affiliated with Genesis Global. Molly Jane Zuckerman is the head of news at Cointelegraph. The views expressed here are her own and do not necessarily represent the views of Cointelegraph. This article contains spoilers. The irony of a book about the Winklevoss twins’ journey into cryptocurrency — which stresses over and over again how …

Bitcoin (BTC), and XRP, the third biggest coin by market cap, are not competitors, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse claimed in a Fortune interview on June 20. In the interview, Garlinghouse outlined the key difference of two major cryptocurrencies, arguing that bitcoin is a store of value or “digital gold,” while XRP is a “bridge currency” that enables an efficient solution for fiat-to-fiat transfers. As such, Garlinghouse cited the difference between bitcoin and XRP in terms of transactions costs, claiming that Ripple can do a transaction for a tiny fraction of a cent while a bitcoin transactions costs roughly $2.30 on …

A G7 taskforce is being created to examine how central banks can regulate cryptocurrencies such as Facebook’s libra, Reuters reported on June 21. Francois Villeroy de Galhau, the governor of France’s central bank, said: “We want to combine being open to innovation with firmness on regulation. This is in everyone’s interest.” Although Paris has said it is not against Facebook creating a financial instrument, it vehemently opposes libra becoming a sovereign currency. Concerns have been raised over how to ensure cryptocurrencies comply with anti-money laundering laws, consumer protection rules and other regulatory matters. The G7 taskforce is going to be …

CNBC’s Joe Kernen claims he is being treated “like a god” on Twitter following a June 19 interview on Squawk Box where he questioned whether Facebook’s libra is a cryptocurrency. In the clip, posted by a bitcoin (BTC) advocate, Kernen said libra “doesn’t excite me at all” and argued that blockchain networks used by major coins add inherent value. Describing the libra, he added: “This is just based on the dollar. I don’t understand it — is it called a cryptocurrency? Well it’s not.” Crypto enthusiasts praised Kernen for his remarks — and said it marked a turning point as …

United Kingdom-based trading platform eToro has conducted a successful trial of issuing tokenized assets on Facebook’s Libra protocol. The company confirmed the results in a blog post on June 20. According to a Github repository detailing its activities, eToroX, the firm’s recently-launched innovation and research offshoot, managed to debut its eToken on Libra. eToken is the technology behind eToro’s tokenized assets, with researchers explaining they wished to test Libra’s current capabilities in the first week of its existence. “By exploring Libra’s capabilities, and using Move IR (the intermediary representative layer of what will eventually be the final programming language), they …