French Minister of Economy to Ask for Guarantees From Facebook In Regards to Its Forthcoming Coin

French Minister of the Economy and Finance intends to “ask for guarantees” from Facebook in regards to its forthcoming digital currency Libra, media outlet Europe 1 reported on June 18.

The Minister of the Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire told Europe 1 that Facebook’s long-awaited stablecoin Libra is an “attribute of the sovereignty of the States” and should “remain in the hands of the States and not of the private companies which answer to private interests".

Le Maire stated that he will “ask for guarantees” from the social media giant such as "the guarantee that this instrument of transaction can not be diverted to finance terrorism or any other illegal activity". Le Maire also asked the governors of the G7 central banks to report what guarantees are to be obtained from Facebook. Le Maire said:

“We have to make sure that there is no risk for the consumer, it is our role as a state to protect consumers. [...]  It will allow Facebook to accumulate millions and millions of data again, which strengthens me in my belief that it is necessary to regulate the digital giants, to make sure that they do not end up in monopolistic situations."

Earlier today, Facebook released cryptocurrency and blockchain-based financial infrastructure project. The stablecoin will operate on the native and scalable Libra blockchain, and be backed by a reserve of assets ostensibly “designed to give it intrinsic value” and mitigate volatility fluctuations.

As Libra is not technically pegged to any given national fiat currency, the white paper states that users will not always be able to redeem the token for a fixed amount of fiat, although Facebook claims that the reserve assets have been chosen so as to minimize volatility.

Facebook has also revealed the release of the Libra Investment Token — distinct from its global user-oriented cryptocurrency Libra — which can be purchased or distributed as dividends to the governing association’s founding members and accredited investors.

As previously reported, the cryptocurrency is set to facilitate payments across Facebook’s various platforms including WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram, giving the new coin potential exposure to a combined 2.7 billion users each month.