- A piece in Bloomberg quotes world experts alongside Libra spokesperson
- Concerns and insights raised over Libra’s regulatory and uptake battles
- “If you can’t use Facebook Libra to go get your groceries, what good does it do you to get your money in cryptocurrency?” asks one expert
Experts from the world of remittance services and cross-border payments have shared their views on what Facebook’s cryptocurrency might require in order to succeed.
The experts were speaking in a piece published by Bloomberg. The piece focused on Libra, Facebook’s proposed decentralised cryptocurrency, which is backed by major names such as Visa.
The wide-ranging piece, which was written by Jenny Surane and Christopher Cannon, makes for interesting reading for those who are following the Libra journey.
It ranges over a number of topics in its interviews with experts, including the cost of remittances, the navigation of regulation, and whether the overall level of uptake and acceptance of cryptocurrencies could cause Libra to become redundant.
The article includes an interview with Karl Schamotta, who serves as chief market strategist at Cambridge Global Payments.
He claimed that the diverse regulatory environment created by every individual country around the world could cause problems.
“Each country in the world has idiosyncratic regulatory regimes, fragmented banking standards, and a whole lot of things that throw sand in the gears that prevents the smooth transfer of money”, he said.
The article also hears from Talie Baker, who works for Aite Group and who raised the point that Libra may see a risk posed to its value if crypto as a whole doesn’t take off further.
“Maybe it becomes a cheap way to send money, but when you cash out is it still cheap?” Baker asks.
“If you can’t use Facebook Libra to go get your groceries, what good does it do you to get your money in cryptocurrency?”
Libra has been in the news for a whole host of reasons recently. It was first announced earlier this year, and it is explicitly designed to help people who currently don’t have bank accounts.
It will be governed by a group called the “Libra Association” and will be a stablecoin – so it is unlikely to see the rapid price movements of many other cryptocurrencies.
The new piece from Bloomberg offers some fresh insights into the lines that Facebook is likely to take when it comes to defending its latest move.
The piece quotes a Libra Association spokesperson, Dante Disparte, as making a case for Libra’s “unique” potential to tackle issues such as the number of people in the world who are unbanked.
“Lowering the cost of remittances and breaking down the barriers to financial inclusion is a global priority and we see Libra as uniquely positioned to help”, Disparte argues.
Libra is expected to launch next year.
Libra is going to be making headlines in the cross-border payments world for many months and even years to come. Stay well informed by checking out our new pages here.
