How Facebook Libra Is Seeking Compliance, but May Not Launch by 2020

At the moment, the company is actively hiring specialists who can convince financial regulators to give the Libra coin the right to exist - and even launched a testnet of the future network.

The dogs bark, but the caravan goes on On June 18, Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of the new cryptocurrency, Libra.

"Facebook Libra's 'virtual currency' will have little standing or dependability. If Facebook and other companies want to become a bank, they must seek a new Banking Charter and become subject to all Banking Regulations, just like other Banks."

The intransigence of regulatorsOn Aug. 25, Cointelegraph reported that the U.S. regulators visited Switzerland, where Libra had registered its activities, to conduct a series of inspections.

The "Zuck Buck," as Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman jokingly nicknamed Libra in his tweet on July 17, could be a red rag for terrorists and other criminals, writing that "Mark Zuckerberg is sending a friend request to oligarchs, drug dealers, human traffickers and terrorists" by launching Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency.

In developing countries, which are precisely what Libra is oriented toward, the new cryptocurrency may spread quickly.

At least, this is what was promised in the announcement released by Facebook, as Libra would function under the Libra Association and Facebook would be just one of the participants.

Some members of the crypto community suggest that Libra will give Facebook a new tool for collecting user information.

Libra may lose out to the regulators, and as a result of which, Facebook will be forced to close the project.

"From a technical point of view I would believe that the Libra team will be ready to launch by the date to which they committed - the stakes from a marketing and reputation point of view are too high for the deadline not to be met. From the legal point of view the story may be different. Different countries will undoubtedly treat Libra differently due to the very different legal regimes that exist - this could potentially pose a stumbling block to its success and its widespread adoption."