A recent press release from the United States House Committee on Financial Services, its contents consisting of an upcoming week’s of activities by Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), was released yesterday, Monday, June 24, 2019. The press release’s arguably most important part was that of its plan to hold a hearing regarding the planned cryptocurrency Libra, which is soon set to be released by social media giant Facebook.
New cryptocurrencies haven’t ever been required to be preceded by a Congressional hearing in the United States, though the House of Representative’s Financial Services Committee is choosing to do so for Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency because the tech company is so powerful.
The hearing will take place on July 17, 2019, which falls on a Wednesday.
Maxine Waters noted that one of the reasons why, if not the most important reason, the House of Representatives subcommittee mentioned above should first hold a hearing on what to do with the future of Facebook’s cryptocurrency dreams was Facebook’s track record of poor performance in terms of keeping users’ best interests in mind, a principle that has been crossed by the social media giant countless times over the past few years.
Just one day before the hearing takes place, on Tuesday, July 16, the Senate’s Committee on Banking is slated to talk about what inner workings of Libra and its ins and outs. The Senate Banking Committee’s meeting is formally titled “Examining Facebook’s Proposed Digital Currency and Data Privacy Considerations.”
Just like the United States, France is also concerned with whether Facebook’s cryptocurrency should be allowed in the two countries. France wants to take care of its regulation issues related to cryptocurrencies through the country’s network of central banks. Cryptocurrencies are inherently different than fiat currencies, or those produced and administered by national governments all around the world, as they are collectively owned by people rather than governments, unlike the currencies of today.
France is in the works of collaborating with other countries throughout the world to drum up support for the regulation of cryptos and digital currencies through central banks and forming the structure for a task force that would control these markets and their participants’ activities.
Although the move would reduce the individual liberties of people and the rights to act freely of businesses in the United States, France’s leaders think the move is a good idea because it would cut down criminal concerns such as trafficking supported through crypto-carried money laundering.
