Stable-Coin Series: Make-it or Break-it Day For Facebook's Crypto Project as Libra Team To Meet BIS and FSB Members in Basel For Risk Assessment

Today, in Switzerland, Libra team is meeting up with the Bank of International Settlements’ (BIS) division CPMI (Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructure),  as per the sources of FT.

Facebook’s crypto-project initiative ‘Libra’ has been encountering series of regulatory hindrances before an exact take-off. The recent trend is that, Libra is perceived to be risky. The French finance minister Bruno Le Maire attacked Facebook’s Libra and said that the country will block the development of the digital currency in Europe.

Foreseeing that the Libra could be potential risk and threat for the country’s sovereignty, the precautious actions were taken as the ministry is concerned about Libra’s impact on the financial stability, as per Reuters report.

Elsewhere, a senior U.S. Treasury executive gave some guidelines as to how the Libra system has to abide by the compliance and the highest standards for ensuring safeguard from the money laundering and terrorism financing. 

The Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Sigal Mandelker, said reporters in the Swiss capital,

“Whether it’s bitcoin, Libra or any other cryptocurrency, our message is the same to all of these companies: anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism has to be built into your design from the get-go.”

Today, the officials of a consortium of central banks would come in as CPMI, who are likely to make a crucial decision about libra cryptocurrency after an assessment of facebook’s crypto-project credibility and risk profile, the movement is quite significant that decides the fate of libra’s prospects in the future.

The CPMI, a BIS international standard setter and a member of the Financial Stability Board, consists of 28 member banks, including the Bank of England, Deutsche Bundesbank and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

It appears to be the debut effort of Libra’s founders to persuade the policymakers at the global level since its inception plans of the stablecoin project back in June. 

Furthermore, the Libra Association, a non-profit organization headquartered in Geneva, will also pursue a license as a payment system with the lead supervisory authority under the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). In this context, the Libra Association has submitted a request for a ruling to clarify the regulatory status of the Libra Association and the Libra coin and intends to file an application for a license as a payment system. 

The invent of the internet and mobile revolution has galvanized global users to gain access to the outside world for the betterment of knowledge and information, trustworthy communications, and swiftness in the transactions. We should wait and watch whether blockchain technology brings in luck for facebook’s stablecoin plans.