Trump warns Facebook about its plan to create a digital currency



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Facebook declined to comment on Thursday night.

Trump's comments on Twitter add to the political heat that the world's largest social network is already facing in Washington as part of its cryptocurrency agenda. Lawmakers are preparing to grill society on Libra at two hearings scheduled for next week. Facebook leaders have been holding meetings for days at Capitol Hill to try to dispel their concerns.

Trump's remarks on Libra were released just hours after a White House social media session to debate Conservative grievances that big tech companies controlling social media platforms were biased against they.

Facebook has been facing questions and scrutiny from regulators and politicians from both sides since announcing its intention to enter the cryptocurrency market.

In testimony before the House Financial Services Committee earlier this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the proposed piece "raises many serious concerns about privacy, money laundering," and "money laundering." money, consumer protection and financial stability ".

Committee Chair Maxine Waters worried about the social media giant's plans and asked Powell about the Fed's views on the issue. Waters and other Democrats have criticized Facebook's strategy, and said the company may finally want to "establish a parallel system of banking and monetary policy" that would rival the US dollar.

Facebook has repeatedly said that it plans to work with regulators to start the Libra, and David Marcus, the Facebook executive who has led the effort for Libra, will testify before several committees. of Congress next week.

Marcus wrote in a blog post last week in which he wanted to "make sure that Libra helps solve the kind of problems that the current financial system is struggling with, especially with regard to money laundering. , the financing of terrorism, etc. "

Until now, however, US regulators and lawmakers have been mostly hesitant about how to tackle the thorny issues surrounding the emergence of cryptocurrencies, such as consumer protection and consumer protection. the protection of criminals. But the entrance of a big company like Facebook forces them already the hand.

In Washington, Facebook was already under scrutiny following a series of scandals and scandals that caused many lawmakers to fight. Among the company's mistakes are major breaches of data security and the possibility for the Russians to hijack its platform during the 2016 election to advance Trump's bid.

The publication of a 12-page white paper at the end of last month detailing plans for Libra sparked controversy. According to the newspaper, Facebook and its partners aim to launch "a simple global currency and a financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people" by next year.

The virtual room will be built on a new Blockchain infrastructure accessible from all over the world. Facebook and its project partners have set up a non-profit organization in Switzerland to regulate the payment network and will hold a reserve of bank deposits and short-term government securities that will support the coin, according to the document.

Trump's comments on Twitter immediately provoked a rebuke from the Blockchain Association, which defends several major cryptographic companies in Washington. The industry association said on its Twitter page that Trump should support the industry because it will become more and more important. "If you care about American leadership, you should support policies that support the growth of this industry * here *," said the group.

-Bloomberg News

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