Lawmakers Want to Prevent Giants of Technology from Offering Digital Currency

In addition to blocking Facebook's plans for Libra, the law "Keeping Advanced Technologies Off Financing" would prevent other companies (those primarily offering an online platform service generating at least $ 25 billion in revenue). annual) to launch similar crypto-currencies. Businesses that break the rules can be fined up to $ 1 million a day.

As Reuters note, it is unlikely that the law will be passed, but it reveals a growing skepticism towards large technology companies, particularly those seeking to enter the financial services sector. Tomorrow, Facebook plans to guarantee US lawmakers that it will not launch Libra until regulatory issues are resolved. David Marcus, head of Facebook's digital wallet, issued a prepared statement in which he was promised that Libra was not designed to face competition from sovereign currencies or to hinder monetary policy. Given Facebook's track record of dealing with such issues as data privacy and skepticism around Libra, it's too early to say if that will be enough.