Libra faces another setback as EU’s finance ministers take hard line against private digital currencies

From: RegTech Analyst

Libra has faced pushback from lawmakers across the world ever since Facebook announced the cryptocurrency project this summer.

Now Libra faces another legislative hurdle as the EU’s finance ministers have publicly stated that no private digital currencies will be allowed to operate within the union until the risk they could pose are clearly addressed, Reuters reported.

“No global stablecoin arrangement should begin operation in the European Union until the legal, regulatory and oversight challenges and risks have been adequately identified and addressed,” the ministers said in a joint statement.

The announcement marks the latest in a long line of setbacks for Libra.

Politicians, regulators and lawmakers in general have expressed concerns about how the digital currency could affect the market ever since the cryptocurrency was first announced in June.

On the back of these concerns, several of the original members of the Libra Association, the organization behind Libra, which Facebook is a member of, has abandoned the project.

The companies that have abandoned the initiative include PayPal, Stripe, Visa and Mastercard.

In October, Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and CEO of Facebook, testified in front of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services in a bid to sooth their concerns.

The general consensus following the six-hour long session was that he did not succeed.

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