Stable-Coin Series: Heads-up on Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency, Indian crypto legislation likely to be a hindrance

Facebook, the social media giant, officially launched its much-anticipated cryptocurrency today with the launch of its official website and whitepaper. 

Ever since the announcement, there has been a mixed bag of reactions, first and foremost, the US Government has looked into the launch of the Whitepaper on Facebook’s cryptocurrency. Reportedly, a U.S. Senate-House lawmaker has claimed for terminating the recent developments on Libra until a company executive testifies before the Congress.

Maxine Waters, the chairperson of the House Financial Services Committee has passed the order,

“Facebook has data on billions of people and has repeatedly shown a disregard for the protection and careful use of this data,” she said in a statement. “With the announcement that it plans to create a cryptocurrency, Facebook is continuing its unchecked expansion and extending its reach into the lives of its users.”

Bruno Le Maire, the French Finance Minister also raised his apprehensions over Libra’s property of being considered as currency and its prosperity thinking: “it is out of the question that Libra becomes a sovereign currency. It can’t and it must not happen.”

There were news that WhatsApp cryptocurrency could debut in India’s remittances market, where about 200 plus million people use the application, as per a Bloomberg’s report. 

But for now, as the Indian central bank, RBI (Reserve Bank of India) seeking to figure out whether Libra functions on a "closed system or not, sources say that Facebook is yet to converse with RBI authorities or anyone within the Indian government officials.

“If Facebook were to design the Libra to be a closed system, only to be transacted on its network and not beyond, RBI should ideally be less concerned, since the coin does not engage with the external economy,” said Anirudh Rastogi, founder of Ikigai Law, a technology-focused law firm. “If it is not meant to operate in a closed system, then it is exactly the kind of digital asset that concerns RBI.”

The official whitepaper of Libra, which was highly speculated cryptocurrency of Facebook, has been released on libra.org, with additional partners.

The cryptocurrency would be developed on the Libra blockchain, as per the sources. It is reportedly a stable, scalable open source and the testnet is available on GitHub.

Currency Strength Index: FxWirePro's hourly BTC spot index is inching towards 27 levels (which is mildly bullish), while hourly USD spot index was at -50 (bearish), while articulating (at 08:04 GMT).

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