Social media giant, Facebook’s face-off with the financial regulators of the entire globe was a hot topic just a few months ago. While some supported Facebook’s interest in crypto keeping in mind its user base, a few others blatantly dissed the Libra project. Just when the uncertainty surrounding the project escalated, Facebook revealed that its crypto venture was soon going to hit the markets.
Facebook’s Libra To Get A “Limited” Release
Libra is one project that has been subject to extreme scrutiny by regulators all over the world. The Libra project was time and again shown the door by the regulators expressing their concerns over privacy. Speculations poured in, a few members of the crypto community even suggested that Facebook might attain financial dominance with the launch of Libra and hence governments are holding back from approving the project. Earlier today, Financial Times published an article restoring hope to those who have been vouching for the Libra project.
The Libra project is reportedly launching in January of 2021 and three people are involved in the “initiative”. While the project is yet to acquire a payments services license from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, the trio involved in the same suggested that they could attain a license by January. The dollar-pegged stablecoin would be the first to enter the market which would be followed by the other single-currency and multicurrency stablecoins which would roll out a little later. Libra had sought permission for the license in April 2020.
Furthermore, a person from Novi, the subsidiary of Facebook, and previously known as Calibra, revealed that the wallet was all set to go from a product viewpoint. However, launching this would still take time. Launching Novi would be a huge task for the platform as it would require a license in each state of the US to function. Novi reportedly has 10 more licenses to acquire.
The Libra project remained under the wraps for a long time. Since gaining the trust of regulators was a major priority, the platform began recruiting several experienced members. While the Libra Association is filled with HSBC veterans, it recently hired a former banking regulator.