Ambitious Facebook Libra cryptocurrency faces both regulatory and partner doubt

Facebook recently announced cryptocurrency with the name Libra continues to stir discussions especially among regulators. The social media giant announced that 27 partners had already signed for its highly publicized crypto. However, according to a New York Times post, some of these partners are in doubt regarding the project.

The fact that Facebook had partnered with leading companies like Visa, MasterCard and Uber, it made Libra easily acceptable to mainstream. The contracts signed were nonbinding as the partners were not going to be obliged to use or promote the crypto. This means that the partners have an option to pullout if Libra was heading in the direction that did not expect. The New York Times says that seven executives who chose to remain anonymous confirmed the terms of the agreement.

The doubts from the partners come at a time when Libra is facing regulatory pressure from both the United States and Europe. Most are concerned due to Facebook’s question history when it comes to privacy and how it handles corporate partners in addition to the uncertainty that still clouds the crypto space.

Following the release of Libra Maxine Waters, the chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee and a Democrat from California asked Facebook to stop development and went ahead to schedule a hearing on July 17 to dissect the project. The Fed’s chairman Jerome Powell said that the central bank was going to “very carefully” look into Libra due to the potential it possess to scale.

“I think that our expectations from a consumer protection standpoint, from a regulatory standpoint, are going to be very, very high,” stated Powell during an event at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.