European governments move to veto Facebook’s digital currency

French Minister of Economic Affairs Bruno Le Mer said Friday that the European players are working together to block the digital currency proposed by Facebook because of the risks they might have on national sovereignty.

Strong opposition from France, Italy and Germany adds to the mounting resistance that technology giants face in their digital finances.

Economic groups in 20 countries warned of the "serious" risks of money laundering, fraud and illegal finance raised by Libra, a digital currency proposed by social media networks on Friday.

Italy, Germany and France will take unspecified steps "to make it clear that Libra is not welcome in Europe" in the coming weeks, Le Maire told reporters the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meeting in Washington Reported on the sideline.

"We will not allow private companies to have the same rights and currency rights as sovereign countries," he added.

"The biggest difference between Facebook and government is that it's under democratic control, the people."

On Thursday, seven-nation economic groups said that reserve-backed digital currencies, such as Libra, known as Stablecoin, need a sound legal framework before entering into distribution.

But European officials say they want to go further by blocking calls completely.

German finance minister Olaf Scholz, like Le Maire, said he was very skeptical about Libra on Friday.

"I don't like it because it's a democratic country's responsibility not to allow the establishment of such international currencies," he said.

But Schultz knew that bank reform was necessary to make cross-border payments simpler, cheaper and faster.

"At the same time, we must protect the autonomy of democratic countries," he said.

Answer: Clear & # 39; No & # 39;

Italian Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri said on Friday that there were "strong agreements" between countries that did not allow reporters to make private currencies.

Libra has also struggled as a major financial and commercial company supported by the project in recent weeks, including Visa, Mastercard, eBay, Stripe, PayPal and online travel agency Bookings Holdings.

But the Libra Association tried to stop the blockade by saying it would address the concerns raised by government officials.

Association president Bertrand Perez said, “Today our priority is to answer legitimate questions with regulators and provide all necessary guarantees.

Le Maire, however, appears to have ruled out collaboration with Facebook, noting that social media giants plan to tie cryptocurrencies to reserve baskets.

"Every Facebook must decide to use more or less dollars or euros to affect the exchange rate between the euro and the dollar, so it has a direct impact on trade, industry and countries that use dollars or euros. The default currency.

This could harm monetary policy and affect government efficiency, he added.

"Do you want to apply monetary policy in the hands of a private company like Facebook? My answer is definitely no," he said.

But he said France was not opposed to creating a digital currency that could develop into a "European system."

"The correct answer is not personal digital currency under the control of one of the largest multinational corporations on the planet," noted billions of Facebook users.

The Libra Association has officially formed Geneva with 21 founding members, including Vodafone and Iliad telecommunications companies, and blockchain operations and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, including Uber, Spotify and Farfetch, Anchorage, Xapo and Coinbase. Started at

Source: AFP