Initial comments from Facebook's senate hearing in the US about Libra

Today David Marcus one of the co-founders of Facebook's Libra is being questioned by Congress about Facebook's plans for Libra. Maxine Waters will chair the meeting and she is a known sceptic of Facebook's Libra. in her opening statement she commented:

• I am worried about Facebook's data breaches. 
• The Senate is proposing a draft bill "Keep big corporations out of finance act"
• Maxine Waters says she is "concerned about Libra" and believes they plan to overthrow the dollar.

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Mr Marcus said in his opening statement:

• We (Libra) will take the time to get this right.
• We will work with regulators around the world.
• We will not offer Libra until we get full approval.
• Libra is about a safe, secure and low-cost way to send money about the world.
• Libra are looking to meet if not exceed safeguarding for money laundering and terrorist financing.
• Libra and Calibra will not share personal data with face unless it is necessary for safeguarding or lawful reasons.

​​​​​Mr Marcus is explaining that Libra will only be a payment tool and not a financial asset like an ETF. It seems from the opening comments that Libra payment system but users will be able to save money in wallets and Libra will be a competitor with Alipay and WeChat etc. The data for Libra will be separate from Facebook's social data. Marcus was asked why Libra are using Switzerland and why they are using a basket of currencies and not just the dollar. Marcus responded by saying they want Libra to be the currency of the world so that would be the answer for both.

He was asked by a New York Senator Mrs Maloney if Libra would have a small pilot scheme and Marcus refused to commit to that. She then followed on to say she doesn't think Libra should launch a currency at all as it is a function of governments.

Look out for more comments and articles as the event is live.