The Walmart cryptocurrency could be more welcome than Libra

If the American retail giant Walmart were to issue its own cryptocurrency, it could be more welcomed than Libra. 

This has been stated by Jaret Seiberg, Cowen‘s political analyst, who says that such a project would generate less political opposition than Facebook. In particular, it could convince that part of the Democrats in search of alternatives for people who are cut off from the banking system: to date, Democrats seem to be Libra’s main political opponents, especially the Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, Maxine Waters. 

The hypothesis that has been circulating for some days is that Walmart could issue its own stablecoin, in some ways similar to Libra, and in direct competition with it. 

However, they may not have “global intentions” like the Facebook project and this, according to Seiberg, could play in their favour. 

According to Seiberg, Walmart’s stablecoin would only slightly differ from a refillable gift card, as consumers would give Walmart dollars in exchange for credit spendable in their stores. 

The political analyst argues that, in any case, it could be seen as a threat to small banks and would therefore probably meet some obstacles, but ultimately he does not expect that legislators can really decide to prevent the implementation of such a project.

It should also be added that many of the objections that have been raised by American politicians regarding Libra concern privacy issues, and Facebook’s turbulent past in this respect is an obstacle that will not be easy to overcome. These doubts could also arise in relation to a similar hypothetical project by Walmart but to a much lesser extent. 

Moreover, if Walmart’s cryptocurrency would be pegged only to the American dollar and not to a basket of currencies including foreign ones, and if in fact it could be spent mainly in the shops of the American chain, the doubts about the hypothesis of the creation of an alternative monetary system to that of the United States would fade away. 

Therefore, there are several advantages that a Walmart stablecoin could have over Libra in the eyes of US politicians and this could indeed create far fewer problems for the retail chain.