Major governments are unsettled with Facebook’s plan to launch a sovereign currency called Libra, in the first quarter of 2020. Now, France has created a G7 taskforce who will examine how central banks ensure that Libra and other cryptocurrencies are regulated, according to Reuters’ report on June 21, 2019.
G7 Task Force to Ensure Libra is Regulated
Based on the report, France has created a G7 task force whose role is to study central banks and how they ensure that Facebook’s Libra and other cryptocurrencies are regulated. The regulation will help to curb issues like money laundering and ensure consumer protection.
Accordingly, Benoit Coeure, a European Central Bank board member will oversee the task force. Prior to this time, France had hinted that it has no problem with Facebook trying to create a cryptocurrency, rather, it adamantly opposes the U.S-based company’s creation of a sovereign currency.
Aimed at Being Open to Innovation and Prioritizing Regulation
While throwing more light on the government’s stance about Facebook’s coin, Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau, France’s central bank governor said the aim is to combine being open to innovation while at the same time prioritizing regulation which is in everyone’s interest.
Villeroy also remarked that the concept of a stable coin still needs to be clearly defined in order to ascertain “what such instruments are stable against and how fixed their exchange rates.”
Asides from France, the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on June 18, 2019, also asked Facebook to halt the development of Libra temporarily. The committee intends to hold a hearing next month in order to examine the virtual asset.
