Ripple CEO: “confidence deficit” holds back Facebook’s Libra

According to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, Mark Zuckerberg’s hearing with the US regulators revealed a confidence deficit that is holding back the development of the Facebook Libra project.

Garlinghouse, who recently entered the US capital with his company Ripple, spoke about Mark Zuckerberg in an interview, suggesting that the social media giant is not yet ready to gain the trust of US regulators.  

Always a good time chatting with @MariaBartiromo – while others in crypto are moving overseas, Ripple is committed to working proactively with US regulators on blockchain/crypto. We just opened an office in DC, and we're here for the long haul https://t.co/kJFoscVDZf

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) October 23, 2019

To be specific, Garlinghouse claims to agree and disagree with Facebook’s Libra project, stating that the proposed concepts are not new in the current financial scenario. This is his comment:

“The difference is the technologies he’s talking about are already on the market today. Ripple’s a US company that’s been deploying these technologies for years. We have over 200 customers globally”.

Not only that, Ripple’s CEO points out that trust is vital to any financial service and comments on Zuckerberg’s situation:  

“How they got here and whether or not it’s fair, the reality is, and they acknowledge it, there’s a trust deficit. And I think for any financial service, you have to have that foundation of trust. So I think the timing is interesting to see Facebook lead on this. I thought another interesting nugget of Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony was that they’re helping America’s leadership. Yet they set Libra up in Switzerland”.

Trust that Ripple’s CEO seems to have gained by joining the US Blockchain Association with his company and expanding his team to maintain close collaboration with the institutional world directly in Washington, DC. 

In this respect, he praises his position:

“While others in crypto are moving overseas, Ripple is committed to working proactively with US regulators on blockchain/crypto. We just opened an office in DC, and we’re here for the long haul”.

In any case, during Zuckerberg’s hearing held yesterday before the United States House Committee on Financial Services, the founder of Facebook seems to have stated that if the American institutions do not give their consent to Facebook for the creation of Libra, the company would not block the development of the project. 

According to Zuckerberg, the current financial system is no longer up to date and could benefit from Libra’s modern and innovative infrastructure but the dissent of the US committee could lead to Facebook abandoning the Libra project. However, the Libra Association, which is based in Switzerland, would continue to exist as it is independent of Facebook and is made up of 21 companies.