Submitted via IRC for SoyCow4463
House lawmakers officially ask Facebook to put Libra cryptocurrency project on hold
House Democrats are requesting Facebook halt development of its proposed cryptocurrency project Libra, as well as its digital wallet Calibra, until Congress and regulators have time to investigate the possible risks it poses to the global financial system.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), the chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, hinted at a move like this last month shortly after the project was announced. Waters's letter today, sent to Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, and Calibra CEO David Marcus, formalizes that request from a few weeks ago. Aside from Waters, the letter is signed by House Finance's subcommittee leaders.
"If products and services like these are left improperly regulated and without sufficient oversight, they could pose systemic risks that endanger U.S. and global financial stability," Water writes. "These vulnerabilities could be exploited and obscured by bad actors, as other cryptocurrencies, exchanges, and wallets have been in the past."
"[Libra] could pose systemic risks that endanger US and global financial stability."
[...] "We look forward to working with lawmakers as this process moves forward, including answering their questions at the upcoming House Financial Services Committee hearing," a Facebook spokesperson told The Verge Tuesday.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 06 2019, @03:41PM
that they are having this debate, before they have actually published a number on Facebooks pending federal fines?