Coin Facebook dan Cryptocurrency Libra (Operasi 2021)

[Ms Senorita]

Rancangan Facebook utk lancarkan wang kriptonya undang kritikan di Washington

(3 Julai): Rancangan Facebook Inc. untuk melancarkan mata wang digitalnya sendiri sekali lagi mencetuskan kritikan hebat di Washington, kali ini dalam bentuk surat dari lebih dari 30 kumpulan berpengaruh dengan Demokrat menuntut supaya menghentikan projek itu bagi menangani "pelbagai persoalan" yang timbul.

Dalam surat mereka kepada lima pemimpin jawatankuasa kongres, organisasi-organisasi termasuk Persatuan Khidmat Pekerja Antarabangsa, Persekutuan Pengguna Amerika dan orang awam berpendapat bahawa pengawal selia tidak bersedia untuk menangani isu-isu yang berkaitan projek Libra dan rangkaian sosial gergasi itu perlu membuat pembentangan bagi memberi gambaran penuh tentang rancangannya.

"Kami semua percaya risiko yang ditimbulkan dari cadangan Facebook adalah terlalu besar untuk diluluskan, perlu melalui banyak persoalan yang tidak terjawab," kata kumpulan tersebut. Permintaan mereka diajukan kepada Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Perkhidmatan Kewangan, Maxine Waters, pada awalnya meminta penggubal undang-undang supaya menguatkuasakan penangguhan rasmi dan akan menetapkan perbincangan kongres bulan ini mengenai isu tersebut.

Pengumuman Facebook mengenai rancangan matawang digital tersebut bulan lalu menimbulkan gelombang baru yang mengundang kritikan oleh penggubal undang-undang terhadap syarikat itu, dimana sebelum ini telahpun mendapat kritikan hebat oleh Washington atas kesalahan termasuk kebocoran data utama dan membenarkan Rusia merampas platformnya semasa pilihan raya 2016 kerana menolak pencalonan Presiden Donald Trump.

Rancangan Facebook untuk melancarkan matawang kripto mengambil masa untuk berbincang dengan pengawal selia dan penggubal dasar serta "mempertimbangan persoalan mereka," menurut Dante Disparte, jurucakap organisasi bukan keuntungan yang akan menguruskan rancangan rangkaian pembayaran itu dan pentadbiran urusan kewangan mereka.

"Pertubuhan Libra mengegaskan pengkhususan kewangan, pematuhan kawalan dan keprihatinan pengguna tidak bertentangan dengan objektif, namun sebaliknya bekerja bersama-sama dengan matlamat pertubuhan yang menawarkan mata wang global dan infrastruktur kewangan yang mudah memberi keyakinan kepada berbilion-bilion manusia," kata Disparte dalam satu kenyataan.


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Facebook's Cryptocurrency Plan Drawing Criticism From Washington

(July 3): Facebook Inc.’s plan for its own digital currency is drawing yet another round of fire in Washington, this time in the form of a letter from more than 30 groups influential with Democrats demanding a halt to the project to deal with the “profound questions” it raises.

In their letter to leaders of five congressional committees, organizations including the Service Employees International Union, the Consumer Federation of America and Public Citizen argued that regulators aren’t prepared to address issues surrounding the Libra project and that the social-networking giant needs to present a fuller picture of its plans.

“All of us believe the risks posed by Facebook’s proposal are too great to allow the plan to proceed with so many unanswered questions,” the groups said. Their demand echoes House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters’ earlier call for lawmakers to impose a moratorium and may set the tone for this month’s congressional hearings on the issue.

Facebook’s announcement of the digital currency plan last month incurred a fresh wave of lawmaker criticism of the company, which was already under fire in Washington for a series of stumbles including major data breaches and allowing Russians to hijack its platform during the 2016 election to push President Donald Trump’s candidacy.

Facebook’s plans for rolling out the cryptocurrency builds in time to talk with regulators and policymakers and “take their questions into account,” according to Dante Disparte, a spokesman for the not-for-profit organization that will govern the planned payment network and manage its financial reserves.

“The Libra Association maintains that financial inclusion, regulatory harmony and consumer concerns are not competing objectives, but rather work in lockstep with the association’s goals of offering a simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people,” Disparte said in a statement. - Bloomberg

Sumber : the edge market


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Terdahulu


Pertubuhan Libra Coin oleh Facebook diarah tangguhkan rundingan dgn bank2 utama

(21 Jun): Bank-bank terbesar A.S mempunyai peluang untuk menyertai mata wang kripto terbaru yang dilancarkan oleh Facebook Inc.

Pertubuhan yang dikendalikan oleh Libra coin itu sedang berunding dengan pihak-pihak bank untuk menyertai dalam urusan pentadbirannya, menurut sumber yang tidak mahu disebutkan namanya dibincangkan dalam rundingan tertutup. Sumber tersebut tidak memberitahu dengan bank mana yang mereka sedang rundingkan.

"Kami akan meneliti perkara tersebut," kata Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Citigroup Inc., Michael Corbat pada Khamis lalu di sebuah persidangan mengenai maklum balas kepada persoalan sama ada banknya akan menyertai pertubuhan itu jika ditanya. Facebook "tidak merujuk kepada kami" menjelang pelancaran, katanya.

Facebook berkata minggu ini pihaknya berharap Libra akan menyediakan cara yang murah untuk menghantar wang kepada 1.7 bilion pengguna di seluruh dunia tanpa mudah diakses kepada perkhidmatan kewangan tradisional. Syarikat tersebut telah melantik lebih daripada dua puluh syarikat lain, termasuk Visa Inc. dan PayPal Holdings Inc., sebagai ahli sokongan pertubuhan dalam urusan pentadbiran mata wang.

Dante Disparte, Ketua Dasar dan Komunikasi Pertubuhan Libra, berkata kumpulan itu sedang berhubung dengan bank-bank di A.S. dan di luar negara dimana beliau menolak untuk memberitahu. Libra mahu peminjam terbesar terlibat sebagai ahli sokongan dan sebagai rakan kongsi perbankan untuk membantu mengendalikan dan perlindungan mata wangnya, katanya.

"Bank-bank memainkan peranan yang penting," menurut Disparte dalam e-melnya. "Oleh itu, kami amat mengalu-alukan penyertaan mereka."

Libra terus mendapat kritikan daripada penggubal undang-undang A.S. pada Khamis, bersama Perwakilan Maxine Waters, Ketua Jawatankuasa Dewan Perkhidmatan Kewangan, memberitahu CNBC bahawa rancangan Kongres untuk "bergerak dengan agresif dan berurusan dengan pantas" dengan syarikat matawang tersebut. Demokrat California telah telah berkali-kali mengingatkan kepada Facebook supaya menghentikan seketika pembangunan tersebut sehingga penggubal undang-undang dapat meneliti rancangan tersebut dengan lebih tepat.

"Adalah sangat penting untuk mereka hentikannya sekarang dengan apa yang telah mereka lakukan supaya kami dapat menangani perkara ini," kata Waters ketika temu ramah bersama CNBC. "Ia seperti membuka bank tanpa melakukan langkah-langkah yang perlu dilakukan."

Citigroup's Corbat berkata firma-firma teknologi kewangan perlu bijak menjaga kepentingan pengawalseliaan semasa mereka membangunkan produk dan perkhidmatan baru. Meskipun Corbat memberi gelaran "sangat dipercayai" dalam mata wang kripto dan blockchain, beliau mengatakan pihak banknya tidak akan menawarkan pelanggan lebih banyak akses kepada wang digital.

Cabaran "aspek tertentu bagi Bitcoin atau mata wang kripto adalah ketidaktelusan dari sumber wang," kata Corbat. Undang-undang anti-pengubahan wang haram melarang Citigroup daripada menghantar atau menerima mata wang digital, katanya.

Dalam persidangan yang sama, Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Western Union Co., Hikmet Ersek berkata, ia akan menjadi sukar bagi Facebook dan rakan kongsinya untuk membina kepercayaan dikalangan pengguna dan menjadikan penggunaan secara meluas untuk pembayaran, menyatakan usaha tersebut sebagai "tidak mungkin akan berlaku."

- Bloomberg


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Facebook’s Crypto Association Holds Talks With Major Banks


(21 June) The biggest U.S. banks have a chance to get in on the new cryptocurrency spearheaded by Facebook Inc.

The association behind the Libra coin is in talks with the banks to participate in its governing body, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private negotiations. The person didn’t specify which banks were in talks.

“We’d take a look at it,” Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat said Thursday at the Fortune Brainstorm Finance conference in response to a question about whether his bank would join the association if asked. Facebook “did not approach us” ahead of the launch, he said.

Facebook said this week it hopes Libra will provide a low-cost way of sending money to the 1.7 billion people around the world without easy access to traditional financial services. The firm recruited more than two dozen other companies, including Visa Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc., to be founding members of the association governing the currency.

Dante Disparte, the head of policy and communication for the Libra Association, said the group is in touch with banks both in the U.S. and abroad that he declined to identify. Libra wants big lenders involved as founding members and as banking partners to help hold and manage its currency reserve, he said.

“Banks have an important role to play,” Disparte said in an email. “As such, we very much welcome their participation.”

Libra continued to draw criticism from U.S. lawmakers on Thursday, with Representative Maxine Waters, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, telling CNBC that Congress plans to “move aggressively and very quickly to deal with” the currency. The California Democrat reiterated her call for Facebook to pause development until lawmakers can look into the project.

“It’s very important for them to stop right now what they’re doing so that we can get a handle on this” Waters said in the CNBC interview. “This is like starting a bank without having to go through any steps to do it.”

Citigroup’s Corbat said financial-technology firms would be wise to keep regulators’ concerns in mind as they develop new products and services. While Corbat called himself a “true believer” in cryptocurrency and blockchain, he stopped short of saying his bank would soon offer clients more access to the digital monies.

The challenge with “certain aspects of Bitcoin or cryptocurrency is the opaqueness around the sources of the money,” Corbat said. Anti-money-laundering laws prohibit Citigroup from sending or receiving digital currencies, he said.

At the same conference, Western Union Co. CEO Hikmet Ersek said it will be difficult for Facebook and its partners to develop trust among consumers and gain widespread adoption for payments, calling the effort a “long shot.”

Sumber : Bloomberg

 

[jaws_am]

Dikatakan Libra bakal merosakkan simpanan orang ramai.. disebabkan kemudahan perbelanjaan dihujung jari oleh semua golongan.. Baik suri rumah, atok, tokwan, dan pakcik makcik di kampung..

Dengan kemudahan yang disedikan libra, ianya bakal mencorak e-wallet pada masa akan datang..

Over Spending..

More than a third of Americans reported that their spending is influenced by experiences on social media, according to Charles Schwab's 2019 Modern Wealth Survey.

The survey, conducted in February, analyzed how 1,000 Americans manage their money.

Social media was ranked the top "bad" influence in terms of money management by survey respondents.
Overspending

Libra could make it easy to overspend because it will be easy to access, said Tyrone Ross Jr., an investment advisor specializing in cryptocurrency in Woodbridge, New Jersey.

"Knowing how humans are, if it is easy to do something, they're going to have at it," he said.

Compared to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, Libra may be easier to use for everyday exchanges like bill paying or buying groceries, Ross said.
Libra was developed as a currency for exchange, and will be less likely to be used as an investment asset like bitcoin, Ross said. It is intended to be a "stable digital cryptocurrency" and will be "fully backed by a reserve of real assets," including bank deposits and short-term government securities, according to the company's white paper.

That means it shouldn't have wild fluctuations in price like other cryptocurrencies.

 

[Ms Senorita]

Facebook tidak bercadang utk menawarkan Calibra atau matawang kriptonya di India

Facebook Inc tidak bercadang untuk menawarkan perkhidmatan Calibra digital wallet di pasaran terbesarnya, India, kata media sosial gergasi itu, berikutan pegawai tertinggi kerajaan India menyatakan keraguan mereka tentang matawang kripto Libra yang diumumkan baru-baru ini.

"Tiada perancangan untuk menawarkan Calibra di India," kata seorang jurucakap Facebook dalam e-mel, secara rasminya menafikan pengeluaran matawang kripto Libra di negara itu. "Seperti yang anda ketahui, terdapat sekatan dalaman di India yang membuatkan Calibra tidak mungkin dilancarkan pada masa ini."

Bank pusat India, Reserve Bank of India telah mengharamkan bank-bank di India dari berurusan dengan matawang kripto, namun begitu banyak kewujudan rangkaian tidak rasmi. Sebagai usaha untuk menghalang mereka, kerajaan mencadangkan undang-undang dengan hukuman berat, termasuk hukuman penjara sehingga 10 tahun. Subhash Garg, Setiausaha Hal Ehwal Ekonomi negara itu, dalam satu wawancara dengan Bloomberg mengatakan India tidak akan bersetuju dengan matawang kripto persendirian.

"Calibra akan menghormati peraturan tersebut," kata Alexandru Voica, wakil Facebook di London melalui panggilan telefon. "Tetapi kami ingin bekerjasama dengan pengawal selia untuk melihat sekiranya peraturan tersebut boleh dikemas kini."

India merupakan pasaran terbesar Facebook dimana gergasi rangkaian itu sudah bersedia dengan pelan pelancaran perkhidmatan pembayaran WhatsAppnya di seluruh negara, yang mana telah pun setahun percubaannya disekat kepada satu juta pengguna.

Matawang kripto berasaskan ‘blockchain’ yang dibangunkan oleh Facebook, akan dikawal oleh organisasi konsortium. Walau bagaimanapun, ia masih berada diperingkat awal, kata Voica.

Facebook telah mengadakan perbincangan dengan pelbagai kerajaan untuk kedua matawang kripto Libra dan digital wallet Calibra. "Pertubuhan Libra telah berbincang dengan rakan usahasama yang berpotensi dari seluruh dunia," kata Voica tanpa menyatakan sama ada beliau beliau bercakap mengenai kerajaan India atau rakan usahasama di negara tersebut. "Projek 'blockchain' mempunyai banyak kegunaan dalam kontrak-kontrak pintar, pengurusan rantaian bekalan dan sebagainya - ia bukan hanya sekadar matawang kripto.


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Facebook Has No Plans for Calibra or Cryptocurrency in India

Facebook Inc has no plans to offer its Calibra digital wallet services in its largest market, India, the social giant said, just as a top government official expressed skepticism about its newly-announced cryptocurrency Libra.

“There are no plans to offer Calibra in India,” a Facebook spokesman said in an email, effectively ruling out the rollout of its Libra cryptocurrency in the country. “As you may know, there are local restrictions within India that made a launch of Calibra not possible at this time.”

India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, has banned banks from dealing in cryptocurrencies but informal networks abound. In an effort to curb them, the government is proposing a law with stringent penalties, including prison sentences of up to 10 years. Subhash Garg, the country’s economic affairs secretary, said in an interview to Bloomberg that India would not be comfortable with a private cryptocurrency.

“Calibra will respect the legislation,” Alexandru Voica, a Facebook representative in London said by telephone. “But we are looking to work with regulators to see if the legislation can be updated.”

India is Facebook’s largest market where the networking giant is already preparing for a countrywide rollout of its WhatsApp payments service, which has been in a yearlong pilot restricted to one million users.

The blockchain-based cryptocurrency, developed by Facebook, will be controlled by a consortium of organizations. However, it is at a very early stage, Voica said.

Facebook has had discussions with various governments on both the Libra cryptocurrency and the Calibra digital wallet. “The Libra Association is speaking to potential partners from around the world,” said Voica without specifying whether it was speaking to the Indian government or with partners in the country. “The blockchain project has multiple uses in smart contracts, supply chain management and so on - it’s not just for cryptocurrencies .”


Sumber : Bloomberg

 

[Ms Senorita]

Senat AS mahu gagalkan Facebook rancangan wang kripto Libra

WASHINGTON / NEW YORK : Para penggubal undang-undang AS yang terdiri kedua-dua belah pihak penentang telah bersedia untuk mengajukan pelbagai soalan kepada Facebook Inc mengenai rancangan wang kriptonya pada Selasa, memandangkan projek tersebut terus menarik perhatian kepada pengawal kewangan dan ahli politik di seluruh dunia.

Facebook sedang berusaha kepada tindakan yang lebih berkesan untuk mendapatkan persetujuan Washington setelah mengejutkan pengawal selia dan penggubal undang-undang berikutan pengumuman pada 18 Jun lalu dimana Facebook bercadang untuk melancarkan duit syiling digital baru yang dinamakan Libra pada tahun 2020.

Sejak dari itu, Facebook telah berhadapan dengan kritikan daripada penggubal undang-undang dan pengawal kewangan di dalam negara dan di luar negara kerana bimbang dengan penerimaan penggunaan mata wang digital secara meluas kepada 2.38 bilion pengguna media sosial gergasi itu bakal menguasai sistem kewangan.

Pengkritik telah menyatakan kemarahan mereka yang mana rancangan syarikat tersebut setakat ini adalah seperti projek yang besar dan penting tanpa rujukan yang mendalam dari pembuat dasar, terutamanya apabila berkaitan dengan isu-isu privasi.

Jawatankuasa Perbankan Senat akan mempersoalkan David Marcus, eksekutif tertinggi syarikat yang mengendalikan projek tersebut, mengenai isu-isu berkaitan bagaimana Libra dapat mempengaruhi dasar monetari global hingga bagaimana data pelanggan akan ditangani.

Marcus, yang merupakan bekas presiden PayPal pada 2012 hingga 2014, akan cuba meredakan kebimbangan dengan menjanjikan bahawa Facebook tidak akan mula menawarkan Libra sehingga isu pengawalseliaan dapat ditangani, berdasarkan bukti yang telah disediakan oleh jawatankuasa yang dihantar pada Isnin.

"Kami tahu yang kami perlu mengambil masa untuk memperbetulkan keadaan," kata Marcus, yang juga akan memberi keterangan dihadapan Dewan Jawatankuasa Perkhidmatan Kewangan pada Rabu.

Marcus kelihatan seperti mendapat sambutan hangat dari ahli parlimen Demokrat yang mempercayai syarikat itu terlalu besar dan tidak mengambil berat tentang data pengguna.

Beliau juga bakal berhadapan dengan keraguan dari pihak Republikan selepas Presiden Donald Trump dan Setiausaha Perbendaharaan Steven Mnuchin yang juga turut menyuarakan kebimbangan.

"Mereka perlu meyakinkan kami sehingga dapat diterima sebelum ia dapat menembusi kepada sistem kewangan AS," kata Mnuchin pada Isnin.


Dirahsiakan

Facebook memperuntukkan sekurang-kurangnya sebahagian besar dari tenaga kerja mereka untuk mengendalikan projek tersebut, Kevin Weil, yang menjalankan produk inisiatif Libra, katanya kepada Reuters pada 18 Jun.

Seorang bekas pekerja memberitahu Reuters bahawa Facebook telah cuba memastikan supaya projek itu dirahsiakan meskipun pada peringkat dalaman - kakitangan yang tidak terlibat mengetahui serba sedikit tentangnya, yang bukan beroperasi dibawah nama Libra.

Khabar angin yang telah tersebar seawal tahun lalu mengatakan Facebook sedang dalam usaha mengeluarkan mata wang digital, tetapi berita menyatakan bahawa projek itu dalam peringkat lanjutan mula muncul hanya dalam beberapa bulan kebelakangan ini.

Dalam minggu menjelang pengumuman itu, syarikat itu mula mendapat sokongan secara rasmi dengan pengawal selia utama termasuk Rizab Persekutuan, Perbendaharaan dan Suruhanjaya Komoditi Perdagangan Niaga Hadapan. Tetapi dua orang yang mempunyai pengetahuan tentang perbincangan tersebut berkata perbincangan itu masih kabur, bersama butir-butir utama projek yang telah dibincangkan hanya pada peringkat teoretikal.

Beberapa ahli undang-undang yang pakar dalam dasar perkhidmatan kewangan begitu kecewa kerana tiada penjelasan dari pihak Facebook sebelum dan sejak 18 Jun, menurut tiga sumber kongres tersebut.

Sebagai contoh, Republikan dan Demokrat teratas dalam Jawatankuasa Perbankan Senat telah menghantar surat kepada Facebook pada 9 Mei bagi mendapatkan maklumat, termasuk bagaimana syarikat itu akan melindungi maklumat kewangan pengguna. Namun, tiada sebarang jawapan dari Facebook sehingga 8 Julai, kata jawatankuasa tersebut.

Selepas menerima maklum balas, ketua Demokrat kepada panel itu, Senator Sherrod Brown, berkata dalam satu kenyataan, beliau masih mahukan "jawapan sebenar."

Seorang pembantu Demokrat menggambarkan hubungan syarikat dengan penggubal undang-undang sebagai "tidak diterima dan layak."

Dalam menyatakan pembelaan terhadapnya, Facebook menjelaskan bahawa pihaknya telah mengumumkan projek itu pada peringkat awal untuk mendapatkan maklum balas daripada pihak berkepentingan.


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US Senate to grill Facebook over plans for Libra cryptocurrency

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (July 16): US lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are set to grill Facebook Inc on its cryptocurrency plans on Tuesday, as the project continues to draw intense scrutiny from financial regulators and politicians across the globe.

Facebook is fighting a rearguard action to get Washington onside after it shocked regulators and lawmakers with an announcement on June 18 that it was hoping to launch a new digital coin called Libra in 2020.

Since then it has faced a barrage of criticism from policymakers and financial watchdogs at home and abroad who fear widespread adoption of the digital currency by the social media giant's 2.38 billion users could upend the financial system.

Critics have expressed anger that the company would have got so far in its plans for such a potentially groundbreaking project without extensive input from policymakers, especially when it is already in the spotlight over privacy issues.

The Senate Banking Committee will question David Marcus, the company's top executive overseeing the project, on issues ranging from how Libra could affect global monetary policy to how customer data will be handled.

Marcus, who was president of PayPal from 2012 to 2014, will try to assuage concerns by promising that Facebook will not begin offering Libra until regulatory issues are addressed, according to prepared testimony the committee posted on Monday.

"We know we need to take the time to get this right," Marcus, who is also due to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, will say.

Marcus is likely to get a frosty reception from Democratic lawmakers who already believe the company is too large and careless with consumer data.

He is also likely to face skepticism from Republicans after President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also voiced concerns.

"They're going to have to convince us of very high standards before they have access to the US financial system," Mnuchin said on Monday.


UNDER WRAPS

Facebook allocated a small fraction of its vast workforce to work on the project, Kevin Weil, who runs product for the Libra initiative, told Reuters on June 18.

One former employee told Reuters the company tried to keep the project under wraps even internally — staff who were not involved knew little about it, not even that it was operating under the name Libra.

Rumors had surfaced as early as last year that Facebook was working on a digital currency, but news that the project was in its advanced stages started to emerge only in recent months.

In the weeks leading up to the announcement, the company began reaching out formally to key regulators including the Federal Reserve, the Treasury and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. But two people with knowledge of the discussions said the conversations remained vague, with key details of the project discussed only on a theoretical level.

Some lawmakers specializing in financial services policy have been frustrated by the lack of clarity from Facebook before and since June 18, three congressional sources said.

For example, the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee sent Facebook a letter on May 9 seeking information, including how the company would protect consumers' financial information. But Facebook did not write back until July 8, the committee said.

After receiving the response, the lead Democrat on the panel, Senator Sherrod Brown, said in a statement he still needed "real answers."

One Democratic aide described the company's contacts with lawmakers as "inept and entitled."

In its defense, Facebook has said that it announced the project in its early stages to get feedback from stakeholders.

Sumber : the edge markets

 

[Hakone]

As an economist, I find concept of Libra very interesting. I think that it is setting up road for completely new ways of payments which would be more convenient in contemporary Internet era. I also think that it would be useful for further development of crypto market

 

[Ms Senorita]

Libra is a great idea. But Facebook has to get out of the way

New York (CNN Business) - In many respects, Libra sounds like the way of the future.

It would be a universal, stable currency that people could access from their smartphones and send around the world for cheap. It could increase access to financial services for people who can't afford bank fees and minimums.

But, that shining vision for Libra is clouded by a big concern: Facebook is behind it.

Criticisms of scandal-ridden Facebook dominated this week's House and Senate finance committee hearings on Libra, indicating the social media company is the biggest hurdle to bringing the currency to life.

"Distrust of Facebook is a pretty universal feeling here," Sherrod Brown, the senior member of the Senate Committee and an Ohio Democrat, said during the hearing.

Lawmakers don't trust Facebook, because of its data leaks and enabling of election tampering and misinformation. Experts say they're right to be skeptical. Libra, they say, centralizes power in the hands of Facebook and a relatively small number of other entities in an association based in Switzerland.

"The tech companies brought this upon themselves," said Phil Liu, chief legal officer with digital asset investment management firm Arca. "There's this mentality that they'll go in and do whatever they want to do and that the laws will change to fit them ... I don't think they necessarily understand the way to work with lawmakers and regulators to address current laws and systemic risks."


Fears about Facebook running Libra

Lawmakers fear Facebook's large audience would drive rapid adoption of digital currency, perhaps supplanting the dollar as the world's reserve currency.

Although other cryptocurrencies still have relatively few users and require some technical know-how to use, Facebook would make Libra accessible on tools billions of people use everyday, including Facebook, WhatsApp and Messenger. And the company is expert in simple user experience.

That fear begets another: that Libra could become so widely used that it would harm central bankers' ability to manipulate the money supply to enact monetary policy. That could leave the Libra Association in a position to tinker with economies on its own.

"A lot of countries extract monetary authority by tinkering with their currencies," said Nick Pappageorge, a senior analyst for market intelligence firm CB Insights. "If you all the sudden have a stable alternative though Facebook, that kind of undermines your authority there."

And lawmakers don't trust Facebook to make decisions about the global economy.

"Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that Facebook might be more like a government than a country, but no one elected Mr. Zuckerberg," Brown said. "They're not running a government, they're running a for-profit laboratory."

Facebook says this is why it set up the independent, Switzerland-based Libra Association to manage the currency, so one company wouldn't have that power. David Marcus, the Facebook executive heading Libra, told lawmakers the association would work with central bankers to avoid competing with sovereign currencies.

Nonetheless, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says Libra presents "serious concerns." Both the Fed and the Treasury Department's Financial Stability Oversight Council set up working groups to evaluate the currency's potential implications.

David Marcus, CEO of Facebook's Calibra digital wallet service, arrives for a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Facebook's proposed cryptocurrency on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 17, 2019.


No Libra without Facebook?

Facebook has said it won't offer Libra without regulatory approval, meaning it won't release the digital wallet or other tools for its users to access the currency, according to a company spokesperson.

"We recognize that we are only at the beginning of this journey," Marcus told lawmakers.

Libra itself could still launch, though, if the Libra Association decides. But if Facebook's 2.4 billion users around the world can't access it, the project probably won't attract the buy-in that would generate those benefits.

"It will get zero traction unless people can't use it in the US, and that isn't going to happen unless the lawmakers give an OK," Liu said. "Without Facebook, it will be like any other little stablecoin project."

So Facebook and lawmakers seem to need each other to bring about Libra's positive benefits, a tough ask given their distrust of the company.

"You really think people should trust you with their bank accounts?" Brown asked Marcus. "I think that's delusional."

Some lawmakers have proposed halting the project altogether. House Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters introduced draft legislation that would ban large internet platforms from operating cryptocurrencies.

But banning Libra altogether would prove difficult. The bill wouldn't stop the Libra Association, which itself is not an internet platform, from releasing Libra. And beyond that, the bill's legality has already been called into question.

"The bill to ban your actions," Minnesota Republican Tom Emmer said, addressing Marcus at the House hearing, "has no Constitutional basis, let alone a basis in logic."

Liu said it would also be difficult to enforce such a broad bill.

"In its current form ... you could arguably say that JPMorgan is a tech company, because it has more developers than Facebook and its own online platform," Liu said. "I don't think it will come to pass, it's an expression of anger by Congress at the arrogance of Silicon Valley."

Sumber : CNN

 

[Wallit Fx]

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[Xploit Machine]

Facebook Mohon Lesen Pengendalian Di Switzerland

"Stablecoin Facebook", Libra tidak dijangka lewat pelancara sehingga beberapa tahun akan datang. Walau bagaimanapun, itu tidak menghentikan pengatur syiling, Persatuan Libra daripada memohon lesen daripada Switzerland.

Menurut beberapa laporan, The Libra Association secara rasmi mengemukakan permintaan kepada Lembaga Pengawasan Pasar Keuangan Swiss (FINMA), dalam usaha untuk menjelaskan bagaimana koin Facebook akan diatur di bawah hukum Swiss.

Pilihan Switzerland sebagai lokasi utama bagi Persatuan Libra yang baru ditubuhkan, apabila dibangunkan sepenuhnya akan mempunyai kumpulan organisasi yang pelbagai merangkumi teknologi, perkhidmatan kewangan, organisasi impak sosial dan usaha modal, antara lain, memanfaatkan peranan Switzerland sebagai nukleus untuk antarabangsa, "kata Persatuan Libra dalam kenyataan akhbarnya.

Libra mula-mula diumumkan semula pada bulan Jun tahun ini dan seperti yang disebutkan, cryptocurrency sedang dipasarkan sebagai stabilcoin. Mencegah sebarang campurtangan dengan nilainya, koin akan dikawal dan dipantau oleh Persatuan Libra, anak syarikat yang bebas daripada Facebook dan termasuk organisasi kewangan. Termasuk Visa, Mastercard, dan Paypal

Langkah itu dengan mengejut, dilihat dengan tahap keraguan yang tinggi oleh pengawal selia dan penggubal undang-undang, terutama di AS, dengan alasan yang baik. Walaupun niat Facebook dengan duit syilingnya adalah halus, cryptocurrency sering dikaitkan dengan tindakan haram seperti pengubahan wang haram dan pembiayaan keganasan, untuk menamakan beberapa.

Sumber asal : Coindesk

 

[Ms Senorita]

EU akan desak G20 ambil tindakan kepada Libra Facebook dan mahukan pindaan terhadap cukai teknologi

BRUSSELS : Menteri-menteri kewangan Kesatuan Eropah menyeru rakan sejawat mereka pada Persidangan G20 pada pertengahan Oktober ini bahawa tindakan terhadap peraturan global amat diperlukan untuk "stablecoins" seperti Facebook Libra, menurut dokumen EU (Kesatuan Eropah).

Barisan menteri yang secara rasminya akan meluluskan teks tersebut minggu depan, juga mahukan supaya ahli G20 memperbaharui/meminda cukai mereka terhadap syarikat digital pada tahun 2020 dan menyelesaikan dengan segera perang dagangan yang "meletakkan pertumbuhan global kepada risiko”, menurut rujukan-terma pada dokumen tersebut.

"Perkembangan terkini mengenai “stablecoins” dan pelbagai aspek pengawalseliaan, pengurusan dan cabaran penyeliaan ini menjadi gambaran menyeru supaya kerjasama berterusan dan tindakan bersepadu diperingkat global," EU akan membincangkannya dalam Persidangan Menteri-Menteri Kewangan dan Gabenor-Gabenor Bank Pusat G20 yang akan berlangsung di Washington pada 17-18 Oktober.

Libra yang dirangka oleh Facebook adalah paling terkenal diantara “stablecoins” – wang kripto yang disokong oleh aset seperti deposit wang tradisional, sekuriti kerajaan jangka pendek atau emas.

Pemimpin tertinggi EU Perancis dan Jerman telah mengkritik projek Facebook, mengatakan ia menimbulkan risiko kepada bidang kuasa negara-negara EU.

Bank Pusat Eropah juga telah meminta supaya pengawasan ketat terhadap Libra dan akan membentangkan laporan mengenainya pada Persidangan G20, kata pegawai EU.

Pada persidangan tersebut, para menteri EU juga akan mengulangi amaran mereka mengenai ketegangan perdagagan yang mengakibatkan ekonomi global terganggu.

"Ketegangan perdagangan yang sedang berlaku sangat perlu diberi perhatian dan meletakkan pertumbuhan global kepad risiko," menurut dokumen tersebut. Ia telah dirancang sebelum ini disebabkan ketegangan perdagangan antara EU dan Amerika Syarikat semakin meningkat ketika A.S mengenakan tarif baru ke atas barangan EU yang membawa pertikaian terhadap subsidi pesawat EU.

Pegawai EU berkata teks itu tidak akan diubah, kerana terdapat desakan supaya tindakan segera dapat dilakukan bagi menyelesaikan perang dagangan.

Menteri-menteri EU juga akan mengulangi keperluan bagi perjanjian global untuk membaik pulih cukai syarikat-syarikat digital pada tahun 2020, menurut dokumen tersebut. Suruhanjaya EU, cabang eksekutif blok itu berkata, EU akan bergerak sendiri jika tidak ada perjanjian global yang dicapai sehingga tarikh akhir yang ditetapkan.

Anggota blok 28 negara itu akan menggesa langkah yang lebih tegas terhadap pihak yang mengelak cukai di peringkat global, termasuk peraturan pendedahan mandatori untuk perantara cukai, seperti bank dan akauntan, dan kebenaran terhadap negara yang tidak dikenakan/rendah cukai.

Kesatuan Eropah ditetapkan untuk mengemaskinikan senarai hitam negara yang tidak dikenakan/rendah cukai minggu depan, mengecilkannya kepada sembilan yang dikuatkuasakan dengan rancangan untuk menyingkirkan Uni Emirat Arab dan Kepulauan Marshall dari senarai.

==============================================================================

EU to urge G20 response on Facebook's Libra, calls for tech tax reform

BRUSSELS : European Union finance ministers will tell their counterparts at a G20 meeting in mid-October that a global regulatory response is needed to "stablecoins" such as Facebook's Libra, an EU document said.

The ministers, who will formally approve the text next week, are also calling on G20 partners to reform their taxation of digital companies in 2020 and to urgently address trade tensions which "put global growth at risk", the terms-of-reference document said.

"Latest developments with regard to stablecoins and the multi-faceted regulatory, oversight and supervisory challenges these represent, call for seamless cooperation and concerted response at global level," the EU will tell G20 partners at a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers in Washington on Oct 17-18.

Facebook's planned Libra is the most well-known of the stablecoins — cryptocurrencies backed by assets such as traditional money deposits, short-term government securities or gold.

EU heavyweights France and Germany have criticized Facebook's project, saying it posed risks to EU states' sovereignty.

The European Central Bank has also called for strict oversight of Libra and will present a report on it at the G20 meeting, EU officials said.

At the meeting, EU ministers will also reiterate their warnings that trade tensions are disrupting the global economy.

"Current trade tensions are a source of great concern and put global growth at risk," the document said. It was prepared before the latest escalation in the trade tensions between the EU and the United States that has paved the way for new U.S. tariffs on EU goods in a dispute over EU aircraft subsidies.

Officials said the text would not be changed, as it already called for urgent action to resolve trade disputes.

EU ministers will also reiterate the need for a global deal to overhaul the taxation of digital firms in 2020, the document said. The EU Commission, the bloc's executive arm, has said the EU would move alone if no global agreement was reached by the set deadline.

The 28-nation bloc will urge stronger measures against tax avoidance at the global level, including mandatory disclosure rules for tax intermediaries, such as banks and accountants, and sanctions for tax havens.

The EU is set to update its blacklist of tax havens next week, shrinking it to nine jurisdictions with the planned removal of the United Arab Emirates and the Marshall Islands .


Sumber : the edge markets

 

[StephyBeautiful]

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