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Facebook’s digital currency Libra is looking less and less likely to launch next year as originally planned.
Policy expert, Angela Walch from University College London’s Centre for Blockchain Technologies told Quartz: “The odds that Libra receives regulatory approval anytime soon (ie, in the next six-12 months) are quite low.”
“This is such a massive proposal, with immediate global scale and consequences,” she added.
Indeed, over the last few weeks Libra has come under much scrutiny and is now looking like it’s been dragged through a hedge backwards.
Last week, Facebook‘s head of Calibra, David Marcus, was given a grilling by US Senators over the social media giant’s plans for its digital currency. While some senators claim to see the potential of blockchain technology, Marcus was largely subjected to a barrage of burns and reasons why people shouldn’t trust Facebook.
As it happens, the word trust was mentioned 69 times – that’s an average of every two minutes.
A few days after the US Senate hearings, politicians from the UK began to speak out against the big F’s “cryptocurrency” plans.
India, potentially one of Libra’s biggest markets, told Facebook to talk to the hand after it denounced the project before the tech giant even tried to launch it in the country.
If all that wasn’t enough, it seems the public isn’t keen on it either.
According to a poll conducted by CivicScience, which looked into general interest and public concerns surrounding Libra, only five percent of 1,799 US adults surveyed expressed any level of interest in the proposed digital currency.
Facebook is also fighting a growing list of fake Libra websites, groups, and accounts that claim to already be selling the digital token even though it’s yet to launch.
The social network is clearly facing an uphill battle when it to comes earning the trust of potential Libra users, and authorities from around the globe.
I’m not a betting man, (and neither should you be), but if I wanted to make some money out of Libra (which I don’t, and neither should you), I’d probably put a bet on it not launching on time, assuming it ever does.*
*This is not investment advice. Do not gamble, ever. You will not win, probably.
Published July 25, 2019 — 12: 44 UTC
Matthew Beedham
July 25, 2019 — 12: 44 UTC