German Finance Minister: Facebook’s Libra Should Not See the Light of Day

Facebook’s Libra project is facing increasing opposition with the German minister of finance joining the bandwagon citing the coin’s disruption potential as a major threat to the EuroZone.

Facebook’s Libra has received great opposition from almost every corner of the world. According to a recent report, Germany has joined the chorus with the minister of finance Olaf Scholz, criticizing the social media giant’s crypto. The minister called for regulatory bodies to scrutinize the digital asset listing disruption in the EuroZone and consumer protection as reasons.

Reuter’s released a report which quoted him saying:

“The issuance of a currency does not belong in the hands of a private company because this is a core element of state sovereignty. The euro is and remains the only legal means of payment in the euro area.”

Germany is Not Alone

That quote was taken days before Germany attended the G7 summit, which featured countries that have questioned Facebook’s new development publicly. Currently, France is setting up a crypto task force that features G7member countries. The new task force will strive to ensure that there is proper regulation for digital currencies.

It is not in any way a coincidence that France set up this task force during the Peak of the Libra circus. The French Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, took to the radio waves to criticize Libra. It took just hours after Facebook unveiled Libra for him to say that it must not become a sovereign currency.

In June, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, Banque of France governor, expressed his wish for regulations around the virtual currencies. He stated:

“We want to combine being open to innovation with firmness on regulation. This is in everyone’s interest.”

The United Kingdom also has similar interests. Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, requested the “highest standards of regulations.”

India is Gone for Libra

Facebook has pulled Libra from its second-largest market, India. Subhash Garg, India’s Economic Affairs Secretary, said that his country’s cold stance on crypto would not change for Libra. He added:

“Design of the Facebook currency has not been fully explained. But whatever it is, it would be a private cryptocurrency and that’s not something we have been comfortable with.”

Even Japan, a crypto-friendly ground has mixed feelings given the potential disruption power that Libra has. The Bank of Japan is worried that this coin will be “piggybacking” off the structure of existing financial systems. All this while, the coin will be posing a threat to the same financial systems.

A Bank of Japan official believes that the coin will be more difficult to regulate compared to other digital currencies. He explained:

“It will move money into an absolutely virtual world, so it is completely different than other forms of digital payment.”

The Biggest Rebels Come from Home

Even though Facebook is facing major opposition from many countries, the harshest critics reside in its homeland. Mark Cuban, an American tech entrepreneur, said that Libra is a ‘big mistake.’ As we published earlier, President Trump said Libra is ‘not money’ and will have little standing or dependability.

The House Financial Services Committee ruled that Facebook should suspend its development of Libra. Moreover, house Democrats are drafting a bill that could ban big tech from finance.