U.S. lawmakers are formally calling on Facebook to cease all development of its Libra cryptocurrency in a new letter sent to executives at the social media giant.
Democrats from the U.S. House of Representatives wrote an open letter to Facebook Tuesday, calling on a moratorium to all libra development while the Financial Services Committee and affiliated subcommittees hold hearings to determine how it would operate and what protections would be implemented to protect user privacy.
Libra was first unveiled in June, though the social media giant was rumored to have been developing it for months. The company lined up 27 launch partners, including crypto exchange Coinbase, and intends to have at least 100 members for the Libra Association, which will act as the cryptocurrency’s governing council, when the token goes live.
The House Financial Services Committee has already scheduled a hearing to examine libra on July 17, a day after the Senate Banking Committee is set to hold its own hearing.
Since the project’s formal announcement, regulators and government entities worldwide have expressed caution or alarm, with members of the G7 forming a task force to look into the project and various ministers calling for Facebook to share more details, or otherwise cease development.
(Article: Coindesk)