As Facebook deals with the loss of PayPal‘s backing for its ‘cryptocurrency‘ Libra, the tech giant must now get ready to answer EU regulators’ questions about the potential risks posed by the project.
The European Commission has requested that Facebook and the Libra Association – the body tasked with supervising the digital currency – answer questions relating to financial stability, money laundering, and data privacy risks.
According to the Financial Times, which saw the commission’s questionnaire last week, this is all part of EU financial commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis’ efforts to asses whether projects such as Libra should be regulated in the EU, if new regulation is required, or whether the ‘cryptocurrency’ should be allowed to operate at all.
The news couldn’t come at a worse time for Facebook, which has faced increasing scrutiny and opposition from regulators in recent months.
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Just last month, Libra’s founders were subject to questioning by 26 central bank officials in what was the first encounter between the technology giant and regulators.
Prior to that, in August, Brussels’ antitrust body raised concerns about Libra potentially causing competition restrictions.
Losing PayPal is undoubtedly the biggest blow for the project to date, but rumours about other partners, including MasterCard and Visa, pulling out have been mounting for weeks.
So, it seems Libra’s future is up in the air – again.
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