According to Techspot's September 14 report, France vowed to stop Facebook's Libra from doing business in the European Union, which is another blow to the company's ambitious global digital currency plan. Concerns about Libra have focused on consumer risk and the possible impact of government monetary sovereignty, which has prompted Europe to launch new initiatives to create cryptocurrencies.
(Source: flickr )
At the OECD cryptocurrency conference in Paris, French Finance and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire alerted the Facebook digital currency and urged the European Union (EU) to issue a ban. He believes that Libra should not be allowed to operate in Europe because it poses a huge threat to monetary sovereignty.
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Bruno Le Maire stated:
I want to make it clear that, according to the current situation, we cannot authorize Libra to develop in Europe. If it becomes a global currency, held by a single party, and its global users exceed 2 billion, then the country's monetary sovereignty will be threatened.
According to reports, Le Maire is concerned that Libra may be “replaced as a national currency” and may cause financial confusion:
I don't understand why we have spent so many years fighting against money laundering and terrorist financing to get a digital currency like Libra to escape regulation.
The French minister also said that Facebook, which runs Libra, has proven to be unworthy of public trust. His remarks stem from Facebook's reputation for abusing its dominance on social media, which has led to the disclosure of the privacy of millions of users. . Interestingly, the Libra Association stated that they welcome this review and are prepared to work with European authorities to resolve all Libra issues.
Having said that, Facebook faces similar obstacles in the United States. In July of this year, the US authorities asked Facebook to suspend its cryptocurrency plan until its impact was assessed. Facebook and Libra Association insist that Libra will be regulated like other payment service providers, but legislators worry about Libra's security and potential risks to global financial stability.
The next question is whether Facebook has a good mechanism to prevent fraud, theft and money laundering. According to CipherTrace, in 2019 alone, cryptocurrency exchanges lost $4.3 billion. A leaked UN report said that countries like North Korea have managed to steal more than $2 billion in digital currencies to fund their military plans.
Will the EU launch digital currency?
All these concerns have prompted eurozone governments and central banks to launch a new initiative, and they are currently working on a digital currency that will make Libra less important. Reuters said the organization is still drafting a set of strict rules for cryptocurrencies, which will make Facebook's days in the region even more difficult.
At a press conference in Helsinki, ECB Council member Benoit Coeure pointed out that Libra is a "alarm bell." Although the ECB did not provide much detail about the “European cryptocurrency”, it did say it would bypass the demand for bank accounts and other financial intermediaries and reduce the costs associated with processing digital payments.
At the same time, some of Libra's early supporters have lost their enthusiasm for the project, and they are reportedly seeking to stay away from the project. In addition, US officials see these members as a "cryptocurrency mafia," and they only do their business. So far, Libra has not yet launched, it seems that Facebook will face a tough battle, with all the anti-monopoly review around its business, this battle will only become more difficult.
