The launch date of Libra, the cryptocurrency of Facebook, is set for the second half of 2020, as stated by Bertrand Perez, the general director of the Libra Association. In the meantime, however, France has already amply discussed its position with regard to Facebook’s cryptocurrency.
In particular, the French Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, while attending a meeting in the city of Helsinki expressed interest in the regulation of cryptocurrencies:
“A common framework will be necessary for the 28 countries of the European Union”.
He then added:
“A public digital currency should be taken into consideration”.
No further details have been disclosed, nor is it certain that by “public digital currency ” it is meant a cryptocurrency issued directly by the European Central Bank. In any case, France continues on its way to oppose Libra at least at the national level by suggesting a “public cryptocurrency”.
Bertrand Perez, director of Libra, said in an interview with the French magazine Les Echos, that at this time the members of the Libra Association are still 28, but next year they aim to have more than one hundred. The requests already exceed this number, but the selection is very strict, even several French companies are planning to join.
Illiad, for example, is already part of the association. Any company, enterprise, NGO or government that makes this decision will have to invest the same initial amount of 10 million dollars.
“The basket of fiat currencies we have considered will include the dollar, euro, yen, pound sterling and Singapore dollar. The renminbi (Chinese currency) will not be part of it. If there is a currency crash or crisis before Libra is launched, we could remove it from the basket, but this decision should be subject to a vote and taken by a two-thirds majority of the association’s members”.
Perez claims that Libra will work together with the banks and that he does not want to replace them in any way. The main problems that revolve around Facebook’s cryptocurrency are related to regulators. The Libra Association is working with Switzerland to find a general framework, but it is not sufficient if the intention is to enter a global market.
Just yesterday France announced the ban on Libra on the grounds that it “threatens the monetary sovereignty of governments”, while the launch of the crypto, which should take place on a date in the second half of 2020, requires very different regulations:
“The months that follow will serve precisely that purpose.”