Facebook reminded investors in its latest quarterly report that whereas it expects to launch its Libra digital currency in 2020, a number of things could keep that from happening.
In the risk factors section of the report,
Facebook said it acknowledges the importance of the pushback
that’s come from lawmakers
and regulators since the project was proclaimed in June.
“Libra has drawn vital scrutiny from governments
and regulators in multiple jurisdictions and we expect that scrutiny to continue,” Facebook said in its filing with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
In addition, market acceptance of such currency
is subject to important uncertainty.
As such, there may be no
assurance that Libra or our associated merchandise and services will be made accessible in a timely manner, or at
all. We don’t have significant prior experience with digital currency or blockchain
technology, which can adversely have an effect on our ability to with success develop and market
these merchandise and
services.
David Marcus, who is spearheading the development of Libra and also the Calibra digital wallet project at Facebook, has said the currency will be “a more economical, low-priced and secure
alternative” payment tool for those
who can’t afford to transfer cash using traditional ways.
Since revealing plans for Libra and Calibra last month, the corporate has faced criticism from public officials within the U.S.A. and abroad.
Earlier this month, Marcus testified before the
U.S. Senate Banking Committee and
the House financial Services
Committee and was grilled by lawmakers during both sessions.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell have also voiced their issues with Libra, and similar
reservations have been raised
by French minister of finance Bruno Le Maire and European central bank executive board member Benoit Coeure.
In a statement to CNBC on Monday, a Facebook representative said that between now and the product’s launch the corporate will be operating openly with all of the concerned parties.
“We know that the journey to launching Libra will be an extended one and
that we cannot do this alone,” the representative wrote. “Engaging
with regulators, policymakers, and specialists is essential to Libra’s success.
This was the total reason
that Facebook alongside other members of the Libra
Association shared our plans early.”
Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg made similar comments on a decision with analysts on Wednesday. A few years ago, the corporate “would have most likely just showed
up and tried to unleash a
product on our own,” he said.
“Now the approach on all of those fronts is to outline the concepts and the values that we think an ultimate service ought to have, leave open a period of how long it takes to deal with regulators and different specialists and constituents’ questions about this and so find out what the most effective way to move forward is,” Zuckerberg said.