France plans to assemble a G7 task force to study how banks monitor cryptocurrencies like Facebook’s Libra, France’s central governor announced on Friday, Reuters reported.
This task force is the latest addition to a growing number of international entities and legislative voices all over the world raising questions about regulating cryptocurrency, after Facebook has unveiled its Libra project this week to much media fanfare. Facebook’s reach and recent brushes with regulators have mobilized lawmakers to examine the company’s promise to cater to seven billion individuals without bank accounts.
The Group of Seven (G7) nations will be led led by Benoit Coeure, a European Central Bank board member, and will investigate how central banks ensure digital currencies adhere to banking regulations from anti-money laundering to consumer-protection laws.
The G7 task force includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S.
- Bank of England Governor warned on Tuesday the regulators will not give Libra “an open door”.
- Rep. Maxine Waters, who serves as a chair of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, called for “moratorium on any movement forward” on Facebook’s crypto project under regulators have time to take action.
- The Verge reported Facebook’s David Marcus will testify in front of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee next month.
- Karma Take: It would be a win for consumers and the crypto space if the governments made more progress on creating universal guidelines for cryptocurrency, even though it flies again the wishes of many crypto enthusiasts who want government to stay clear of a decentralized currency.
