In a publication on June 24, 2019, Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the United States House Financial Services Committee announced that a hearing for Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra will be held on July 17, 2019. In the same vein, the Senate Banking Committee announced on June 19, 2019, that it will hold a hearing for Libra on July 16, 2019.
Chairwoman Maxine Waters Announces Hearing for Facebook’s Libra
Chairwoman Maxine Waters announced a full Committee hearing for Libra, a cryptocurrency that will be launched by the U.S. based social media company, Facebook. The hearing has been tagged “Examining Facebook’s Proposed Cryptocurrency and Its Impact on Consumers, Investors, and the American Financial System,” and it will hold on June 17, 2019, at 10:00 AM.
Prior to the announcement, the Chairwoman asked Facebook to halt the development of Libra temporarily in order for the Congress and regulators to examine the project and take actions. According to Waters, it is important for the social media company to stop right now so that the Congress can get a handle of what they’re doing.
Facebook Disregarded Protection and Careful Use of Data in the Past
In a publication on June 18, 2019, Maxine Waters also outlined that Facebook had disregarded the protection and careful use of people’s data. The U.S based company also exposed Americans to fake and malicious accounts from cybercrime actors. Now, with its aim to create a virtual asset, it is continuing its unchecked expansion and extending its reach into the lives of people.
Waters also said:
The cryptocurrency market currently lacks a clear regulatory framework to provide strong protections for investors, consumers, and the economy. Regulators should see this as a wake-up call to get serious about the privacy and national security concerns, cybersecurity risks, and trading risks that are posed by cryptocurrencies.”
Senate Banking Committee to Hold a Hearing for Libra Next Month
On the other hand, the Senate Banking Committee will be holding a hearing for Libra next month, a day before that of the House Financial Services Committee. Last month, the Banking Committee sent an open letter to Facebook seeking answers as to how Libra works and the extent Facebook has sought input from financial regulators.
Fake Sites Selling Facebook Libra Coin
Libra, Facebook’s cryptocurrency is scheduled for launch in the first quarter of 2020, however, fake sites are already selling the Facebook Libra Coin. But don’t be confused because like the fake sites, the coins are also fake and are totally worth nothing.
Scam Websites Selling Fake Tokens as Libra
A number of websites are claiming to have the Facebook Libra coin for sale and one of such is calìbra.com which has cloned the original calibra.com, the website for the official Libra token. A user can easily be deceived from just a glance, but on closer inspection, they can tell that the URLs differ with a ì.
Asides from the URL, the fake website looks almost the same as the original one since the template is the same. It uses the same layout, background color, font size, and style, amongst other things. Nevertheless, the fake site’s footer differs greatly from the original site since the margin is wider and there are words in Unicode.
Scam Site Offers Pre-sale of Tokens for Ethereum
Another notable difference between both websites is a replacement of “Get Started” on the original site with “Pre-Sale Libra Currency”. On clicking on the pre-sale button, a new page displays the information that 95 percent of Libra has already been sold, thereby giving people the impression that it is almost running out and there is a need for them to join the bandwagon quickly.
In addition, an Ethereum address is requested which can be assumed it is where the token will be sent to. There is also a 25 percent bonus of tokens purchased and one can get as high as 600 Libra for 2 Ethereum and 8000 Libra for 20
One more scam website that is patrolling with Mark Zuckerberg’s and Facebook’s image, is Zuckbucks.cash. According to the site, “ZBUX is an ERC20 token which can be used to do absolutely nothing…Want to buy a cup of coffee with your ZBUX? Too bad! Need to pay your bills? Better use another currency! Want to pile on to Mark Zuckerberg’s already incredibly overinflated bank account? Now we’re getting somewhere!”
