Ueli Maurer, Swiss President and the member of the Swiss Federal Council, recently called out Facebook’s Libra, stating that it has “failed in its current form” and that the project needs to be reworked in order to be approved.
In a recent interview with Swiss broadcaster SRF, the outgoing president opined that Libra does not stand a chance to succeed as “the basket of currencies that is deposited in this currency is not accepted by the national [central] banks.”
He stated,
“The project in this form has actually failed.”
The comment from the President of Switzerland could pose another bump for Facebook as Calibra is headquartered in Geneva, where the Libra Association is currently seeking regulatory consent. Libra has thus been scrutinized by regulators around the world, with some countries like Germany and France outrightly denying Libra’s introduction in their countries.
Slated to be launched in June 2020, criticism is not new to Libra. The digital currency has been at the receiving end of critical comments from investors and economists across the globe, since its inception. It was speculated by David Marcus, the CEO of Facebook’s blockchain subsidiary Calibra that Libra’s launch could be delayed.
Earlier this month, finance ministers of EU also came to an agreement that digital assets such as Libra have no place in the EU unless the consequences and pitfalls are sorted out, according to a report. The commission also added that it was ready to implement all necessary measures to ensure orderly monetary financial conditions. The ministers declared,
“No global stablecoin arrangement should begin operation in the European Union until the legal, regulatory and oversight challenges and risks have been adequately identified and addressed.”
