Not much has gone right for Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency since it was announced with much fanfare a year ago. Since then, many big backers have pulled out and politicians around the world have questioned why the biggest social network in the world is creating their own cryptocurrency. The project has stalled and might never happen at all. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was grilled in front of a committee on Capitol Hill about his company’s plans for Libra. Zuckerberg did not come off well and danced around many of the questions that he was asked about Libra.
According to Financial Times, a new poll was just released which says that the vast majority of people who were surveyed in 13 countries do not trust Facebook and other very large and powerful tech companies that want to get into the digital currency business. The people who were surveyed questioned the motives of Facebook for creating Libra in the first place. This poll is yet another black eye for the Libra project. One of the biggest concerns for politicians is that people all over the world using Libra could lower the value of regular currencies. This could trigger an economic collapse around the world.
It is no secret that politicians around the world have not been fans of Libra since Facebook announced it. However, the social media giant always held the belief that the general public was on their side and liked the idea of having a new cryptocurrency that was owned by Facebook. The results of this poll say otherwise. In fact, the poll was so overwhelmingly negative towards Libra that Facebook might seriously reconsider moving forward with the project. After all, there is no reason to start Libra if people are lukewarm to the idea in the first place.
Mark Zuckerberg has said that it would be highly unlikely for Libra to launch in 2020. He says that there are many things that would need to be worked out before such a launch could take place. During his testimony on Capitol Hill, Zuckerberg said that China is in the process of creating their own cryptocurrency. Therefore, the government should support Libra because it would allow the United States to get there before the Chinese. It did not seem like any of the politicians who were questioning Zuckerberg bought this argument. The future of Libra is up in the air right now. This poll did not help at all.
