The U.S. government should consider forcing Facebook Inc. to freeze work on its new cryptocurrency project, a senior U.S. lawmaker said on Thursday.
The U.S. social media company drew worldwide interest earlier this week when it announced plans to establish its own payment system, backed up by a currency it calls Libra.
Representative Maxine Waters, who chairs the House of Representative Financial Services Committee, said in a CNBC interview the government needs to study cryptocurrencies and Facebook's initiative, dubbed Libra, further before permitting it to proceed.
"We should ask them, as we are doing, or force them in any way that we can to place a moratorium on this new cryptocurrency that they’re putting into place," she said, without offering specifics.
“We’re going to move aggressively and very quickly to deal with what is going on with this new cryptocurrency,” says Rep. Waters. “I think it’s very important for them to stop right now what they’re doing so that we can get a handle on this.”
To be sure, Facebook's crypto coin has seemingly faced a global backlash.
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Thursday that Facebook cannot expect its new Libra currency to benefit from the same unregulated free-for-all that helped the company achieve a dominant position in social media.
“The Bank of England approaches Libra with an open mind but not an open door,” Carney says in a speech he will give in the heart of London’s financial district. “Unlike social media ... the terms of engagement for innovations such as Libra must be adopted in advance of any launch.”
Carney’s comments were part of a broader speech unveiling a major review into the future of Britain’s financial system, to cut costs for consumers, make it easier for small businesses to borrow and reduce banks’ compliance expenses.
Cash usage is falling rapidly in Britain in favor of credit and debit cards - though some older Britons and businesses in rural communities with poor internet access still prefer cash.
If Libra comes close to meeting Facebook’s ambitions, it would be a systematically important payment system which the BoE and financial regulators worldwide would take a keen interest in, Carney said.
The company would need to meet tough standards on consumer protection and fighting money-laundering, as well as ensuring the platform boosted competition and was genuinely open so that “new users can join on equal terms”.
The BoE - which already allows some non-banks to use its payment services - said it would consult on being the world’s first major jurisdiction to allow non-banks to deposit money with it overnight, rather than relying on banks.
“Expanding access can improve the transmission of monetary policy and increase competition,” Carney said.
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