Because of its trust and personal identity issues, Facebook should not be spearheading the Libra cryptocurrency project, according to a co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain.
Facebook announced in June that it plans to issue the Libra coin — a digital currency backed by high-profile tech companies. The move was opposed by regulators and banks who see Libra coin as a big risk to global financial stability.
“I don’t believe that Facebook … with the concerns that we have with respect to trust and personal identity in Facebook, should be driving that project,” said Joseph Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum and the blockchain company Consensys, in an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box.
Ethereum is a global, open-source platform for decentralized applications. Ethereum’s applications and contracts are powered by Ether, the Ethereum network’s digital currency.
Some of Libra’s backers, under the Libra Association, have developed cold feet over the project and dropped out, but Facebook said it is in talks with a number of banks to bring them on board by the time the cryptocurrency launches in 2020.
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In the event that the Libra Association votes to move ahead without regulatory approval, Zuckerberg said Facebook “would be forced to leave” the project.
“My only hope for them to actually launch Libra was to launch it in a bunch of small-and-medium-sized nations and bide their time and eventually, launch it in European … and the American nation that are resistant,” Lubin said.
