Facebook's Zuckerberg Appears to Put Libra Launch Date in Doubt

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has refused to commit to the planned 2020 launch for the Libra cryptocurrency project.

Since the launch of Libra's white paper in June, regulators worldwide have been strident in their objections to the project, saying it poses not only a risk to financial stability and could be used in financial crimes, but it's also a threat to sovereign currencies.

Notably, lawmakers in the U.S. and France have called for the project to be halted.

The Libra project had appeared to have been sticking to its guns on the 2020 target, with Libra Association managing director and COO Bertrand Perez saying in mid September that "We are firmly maintaining our launch schedule, between the end of the first half of the year and the end of 2020.".

Zuckerberg also said that Facebook is now taking a more cautious approach when bringing forward projects like Libra that are " very sensitive for society," allowing a period for consultation and "Working through the issues."

CoinDesk has reached out to the Libra Association, the non-profit set up to manage and develop the cryptocurrency, to ask if its plans had changed regarding the launch schedule.

In a Medium post Wednesday, he wrote that Libra would be a "Game-changer" for the public, arguing that "Existing 'money networks' are closed and are not well interconnected."

Libra, on the other hand, will enable value to be moved around the world at in "Near real-time" and at "An incredibly low cost."

"Just like SMTP allowed any email provider to interoperate with other email providers, Libra can be the 'protocol' that will enable fast, cheap, and stable money movement across service providers, institutions, and people all around the world."

This, he claimed, would reduce the costs of running payments systems, doing away with intermediaries and reducing "Operational complexity and overhead." It would also make it easier for people to send and receive money and lower the "Barrier of access to modern digital money and financial services."