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Facebook ’s Libra project has failed in its current form and needs reworking to be approved, said the president of Switzerland where the cryptocurrency is seeking regulatory consent.
“I don’t think (Libra has a chance in its current form), because central banks will not accept the basket of currencies underpinning it,” Ueli Maurer, who is Switzerland’s finance minister and outgoing president, told Swiss broadcaster SRF.
Plans for the Facebook-led digital currency, which is to be issued and governed by the Geneva-based Libra Association, have raised concerns among regulators and politicians ranging from privacy to its potential to influence monetary policy and change the global financial landscape.
Officials running the project, including co-creator David Marcus of Facebook, have said regulatory hurdles could see the launch delayed beyond the planned June date.
The cryptocurrency is to be backed by a reserve of assets such as bank deposits and government debt held by a network of custodians. That structure is meant to foster trust and avoid the price swings that plague other cryptocurrencies.
As it stands, the nascent project is still in development and is not yet a live, active network. Last week, Libra published a second roadmap outlining plans for its main net launch, currently slated for 2020.
In October, several prominent backers of Libra, including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, withdrew from the Libra Association. A few weeks later, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before a U.S. House committee to address lawmaker concerns around Libra.
At the hearing, Zuckerberg said that the social media giant would quit the Libra Association if the project does not get full approval from U.S. regulators.
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