Facebook’s pre-launch Libra announcement highlights intent to work with policymakers, says Hunter Horsley

News of Facebook launching its own cryptocurrency, Libra, caused quite a few ripples across the industry. Reactions were diverse, with some welcoming it, while others trashed it. And, these reactions weren’t limited to analysts alone as several industry bigwigs came out to put forth their views.

Binance’s CZ had previously commented in favor of the coin and said,

“I think the potential that Libra can have, not just on mass adoption but what it means to payments and forcing regulators’ hands to catch up a bit, is good news.”

ShapeShift’s Erik Voorhees said,

“Libra has a good chance of helping hundreds of millions of people avoid middlemen fees and increase their wealth and financial sovereignty *relative to the status quo banking system* Humanitarians rejoice.”

Now, former Facebook employee and present CEO of Bitwise Asset Management, Hunter Horsley, and Lily Liu, Co-founder and CFO of Earn.com, have put forward their views on Libra in a recent interview.

About Facebook’s stance on regulators and policymakers, Hunter Horsley is of the view that Facebook will work in a collaborative manner when it comes to Libra. The social media giant wants to work in line with regulators and many other policymakers. Horsley backed his view by highlighting the fact that Facebook is doing everything in the open and letting people know of their plans, even before the actual launch of the protocol, by releasing their white paper and explaining Libra to the public.

Lily Liu, on the other hand, commented on Facebook’s announcement and said,

“Their announcement recently is a little bit more of a pregnancy announcement, more than a birth announcement.”

Liu stated that it is “incredibly admirable” of Facebook as they will be competing with financial institutions and also countries directly that issue currency.

Since Facebook already has 2 billion users, it can leverage this advantage by pushing the Calibra wallet as a financial service. The only shortcoming is the fact that the company will not only have to face legal hurdles on home soil, but will also have to negotiate/evaluate which countries can avail Libra’s services.