Fun

US Lawmakers Call on Payment Giants to Exit ‘Chilling’ Libra Project

News Feed - 2019-10-09 08:10:07

Two U.S. Senators have publicly asked Visa, Stripe, and Mastercard to remove themselves from the Facebook-led cryptocurrency payment network, Libra.


Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) sent three separate letters Tuesday to Visa CEO Alfred F. Kelly Jr., Stripe CEO Patrick Collinson and Mastercard CEO and president Ajaypal Singh Banga over the firms’ participation in the developing network. The three companies are among 27 partners for the project so far.


Earlier this month PayPal dropped out of the Libra Association, just weeks before members are to sign a formal charter on Oct. 14.


In the letters, Schatz and Brown say Facebook, the driving force behind the network, has failed to satisfactorily answer regulatory concerns over terrorism, money laundering, monetary policy and economic destabilization.


At the heart of the senators’ argument lay past accusations against the social media giant such as a New York Times article exposing criminal abuse of Facebook’s messenger app.


The letter states: “It is chilling to think what could happen if Facebook combines encrypted messaging with embedded anonymous global payments via Libra.”


In what could be viewed as threatening language, Schatz and Brown say participating firms such as Visa, Stripe, and Mastercard may see heightened regulatory scrutiny overall as a result of Libra membership.


“If you take this on, you can expect a high level of scrutiny from regulators not only on Libra-related payment activities, but on all payment activities,” they wrote.


Libra image via Shutterstock

News Feed

Argentina Introduces New Exchange Rates to the Mix — ‘Qatar’ and ‘Coldplay’ Dollars Go Against IMF’s Warnings
Argentina Introduces New Exchange Rates to the Mix — "Qatar" and "Coldplay" Dollars Go Against IMF"s Warnings The government of Argentina, which is currently applying dollar exch
Experts Predict Future Regulation of Crypto Exchanges by 2025, With Split Opinion on Similarity to Traditional Finance
Experts Predict Future Regulation of Crypto Exchanges by 2025, With Split Opinion on Similarity to Traditional Finance Following finder.com’s reports on bitcoin and ethereum
Tom Blackstone2 hours agoOpen-source advocates launch OP Stack testnet to fund public goodsThe Public Goods Network from Gitcoin promises to redirect most net sequencer fees into public goods, instead of giving them to t
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Surges to an All-Time High, Network Prints 2022’s Largest Retarget Increase
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Surges to an All-Time High, Network Prints 2022"s Largest Retarget Increase Bitcoin’s mining difficulty reached an all-time high on October 10, whi
Japanese Authorities Say the Majority of People Involved in Coincheck’s 2018 Hack Are Individuals With ‘High Social Status’
Japanese Authorities Say the Majority of People Involved in Coincheck"s 2018 Hack Are Individuals With "High Social Status" More details keep appearing from the
Bankrupt Crypto Lender Celsius’ Asset Sale Is Scheduled, Sources Say FTX CEO May Bid
Bankrupt Crypto Lender Celsius" Asset Sale Is Scheduled, Sources Say FTX CEO May Bid According to a filing published by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New Y
Nigerian Mobility Fintech Secures $20 Million From British Development Finance Institution
Nigerian Mobility Fintech Secures $20 Million From British Development Finance Institution A Nigerian fintech, Moove, recently secured a $20 million investment from British Interna
All in Bits to launch governance blockchain ahead of Cosmos Hub fork
Tristan Greene5 hours agoAll in Bits to launch governance blockchain ahead of Cosmos Hub forkDueling visions from estranged co-founders Jae Kwon and Ethan Buchman could test the limits of decentralization.3860 Total view
As Millions Drown in Today’s Poverty Trap, Macro Strategist Raoul Pal Says ‘Bitcoin Is a Life Raft’
As Millions Drown in Today’s Poverty Trap, Macro Strategist Raoul Pal Says "Bitcoin Is a Life Raft" Global Macro Investor CEO, Raoul Pal, discussed the current
VC Roundup: Venture firms push Web3 forward despite macro headwinds
Ana Paula Pereira4 hours agoVC Roundup: Venture firms push Web3 forward despite macro headwindsThis edition of Cointelegraph’s VC Roundup features Mira, Astria, Compute Labs, BOB, Dora and BITKRAFT Ventures.1050 Total
Cointelegraph Research11 hours agoSetting new standards for crypto exchanges in the post-FTX era: ReportIn an industry that is growing increasingly wary of financial malpractice, which exchange is the most trustworthy?12
Lebanese Mint, Keep, Spend Crypto Amid Crisis, Report Unveils
Lebanese Mint, Keep, Spend Crypto Amid Crisis, Report Unveils Living in the chaos of a deep crisis, people in Lebanon have been turning to cryptocurrency, a new media report has co