The Libra Association has made a key hire in its pursuit of a new cryptocurrency and payments system. The Libra Association, which manages Facebook’s quiet cryptocurrency project, has appointed a general counsel to oversee the development of its forthcoming payment system. In an official press release, the Libra Association Wednesday introduced Saumya Bhavsar as the…
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BIS Innovation Hub head Benoît Cœuré stressed the importance of maintaining multiple payment options beyond just CBDCs. As numerous countries across the board navigate their feelings on central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, Benoît Cœuré of the Bank for International Settlements thinks physical cash will retain its importance. Heading up the BIS’ innovation wing, Cœuré…
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Canada’s central bank recognizes that CBDCs are a necessarily international issue. Canada doesn’t want any “surprises” regarding central bank digital currencies. In a recent interview with Reuters, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem doubled down on the country’s contingency-plan approach to CBDCs, stressing that he sees no urgent need to issue one right now. For…
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The proposed EU crypto market regulation will raise many compliance obstacles for the next Libra-like project seeking to operate in Europe. In cryptoland, the fall tends to be regulators’ open season. As unprecedented as it’s been, 2020 is no exception to this trend. Tensions are high on both sides of the Atlantic: As markets were…
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Talk of CBDCs and Facebook’s Libra headlined this week’s policy news, as international organizations weigh in on both. Editor’s note Blockchain technology has attracted regulatory attention since its inception. The security of the Bitcoin network despite the value of BTC in play has consistently proved the resilience of blockchain technology in maintaining records across a…
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“No global stablecoin project should begin operation until it adequately addresses relevant legal, regulatory, and oversight requirements.” Countries representing the world’s largest economies said in a draft of a statement that they would initially oppose the launch of Facebook’s Libra project. According to an Oct. 12 report from Reuters, central bankers and finance ministers from…
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Libra gets another member as it strives to have 100 entities on board. The Facebook-initiated Libra blockchain project continues to grow as its governing body has added a new major industry partner. Blockchain Capital, one of the largest venture capital firms in the blockchain industry, has joined the Libra Association, according to an official Sept.…
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Banque de France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau warned about the threat of “Big Tech” stablecoins. The governor of the Bank of France has warned that Europe cannot afford to lose momentum in tackling the challenges posed by private sector global digital assets. His warning came as five EU governments — Germany, France, Italy, Spain…
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Former U.S. Homeland Security Department general counsel, Stevan Bunnel, has been appointed as Libra’s top lawyer. Stevan Bunnel, former general counsel for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has been revealed as the Libra Association’s new leading lawyer. Since leaving the Homeland Security Department in 2017, Bunnell co-chaired the data privacy-focused legal practice O’Melveny…
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A former chief economist of the IMF said neither private digital currencies nor central bank digital currencies should hold a monopoly. The former governor of Reserve Bank of India, Raghuram Rajan, said that private cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Facebook’s Libra may have a future even when central banks roll out their own digital currencies.…
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