Jerome Powel, president of the Federal Reserve of the United States, believes that Libra could not proceed without the concerns it raises being discussed.
The president of the central bank of the United States, one of the most powerful financial regulators in the world, has spoken about the Libra cryptocurrency project initiated by Facebook.
“Libra raises serious concerns about privacy, money laundering, consumer protection and financial stability,” said declared Jerome Powel, President of the Federal Reserve in front ofe House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.
He felt that under these conditions, he did not believe that the project should proceed before addressing these concerns.
Mr. Powell said the Federal Reserve has set up a task force to monitor the project in coordination with other central banks around the world.
In addition, Facebook officials are soon to come before the US Congress to detail the Libra project.
Lhe announcement of the launch of this “stablecoin” initiated by Facebook has elicited at best cautious and even negative reactions from policy makers.
“Let Facebook create its own currency, a transaction instrument, why not. On the other hand, it is out of the question for it to become a sovereign currency, ”said Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy, in particular.
Jerome Powel says he is in favor of innovation, but he believes that the size reached by Facebook (more than 2 billion members) is such that any problem caused by Libra could have immediate repercussions on a massive scale. “You have to take a careful look at it, so I firmly believe we all need to take our time for this. “