On Feb 16, 2018 we posted a blog titled, “Coin of the Realm”, in which we suggested that legal tender is what the government says it is and governments don’t like competition.
Recently, Facebook announced plans to introduce Libra, a permissioned blockchain digital currency. The project, currency and transactions are to be managed and entrusted to the Libra Association, a membership organization founded by Facebook’s subsidiary, Calibra.
As of June, the currency and network did not exist, and only rudimentary experimental code has been released.
Predictably, on June 18, 2019, Maxine Waters, Chairperson of the House Committee on Financial Services, asked Facebook to halt their plan on the development and launching of Libra.
On July 2, 2019, House Committee on Financial Services Democrats sent a letter to Facebook asking the company to stop development of its digital currency.
All comments and suggestions are welcome.
Walter J. Kirchberger, CFA