Rep. Maxine Waters Says US Can’t Let Facebook’s Libra ‘Compete With the Dollar’
The chair of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee is doubling down on her calls for Facebook to pause development on its new blockchain, Libra.
Two days after calling for a hearing, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) appeared on CNBC Thursday afternoon calling for a “moratorium” on Libra development.
“It’s important for them to stop what they’re doing right now so we can get a handle on this,” Waters said of the social media giant. ”We’ve got to protect our consumers. We can’t allow them to go to Switzerland and compete with the dollar.”
CNBC’s Waters interview made it clear her concerns are more with Facebook than with the company’s announced cryptocurrency project. Waters highlighted an ongoing investigation by the Federal Trade Commission into potential privacy violations concerning consumer data. She also mentioned a Department of Housing and Urban Development lawsuit that accuses Facebook of violating fair housing laws.
“And while we’re doing that they’ve gone on to develop a cryptocurrency,” Waters said on CNBC. “We’re now going to move and we’re going to move aggressively and quickly to deal with what is going on with this new cryptocurrency.”
Waters isn’t alone in calling for public hearings on Facebook’s crypto aspirations, which were announced Tuesday. The U.S. Senate’s banking committee has already scheduled a July 16 hearing on Libra. Facebook blockchain lead David Marcus is reportedly expected to testify, according to The Verge.
U.S. Representative Maxine Waters image via Shutterstock
OhNoCrypto
via DMT.NEWS, Zack Seward, Khareem Sudlow
