Facebook author and CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify following a break during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and Senate Judiciary Panel joint hearing about Facebook on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Federal In store Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that Facebook spoke to the central bank about the digital currency summoned Libra that the tech giant is helping create.
“Facebook, I believe, has made quite broad rounds here the world with regulators, supervisors and lots of people to discuss their plans and that certainly includes us,” Powell turned.
Libra is a digital currency, also known as a cryptocurrency, that is intended to transform how money moves around the everyone. Facebook announced on Monday that it is leading a group of payments and technology companies – including Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, eBay, Lyft and Uber – to produce Libra, set to launch in the first half of next year.
Powell noted that the Fed meets “with a broad reach of financial sector firms all the time on financial technology.”
“There’s just a tremendous amount of innovation going on out there,” Powell put about.
Although Libra intends to solve some issues that cryptocurrencies face, Powell also identified that Facebook’s crowd will also likely must overcome other issues before Libra becomes used around the faction.
“There are potential benefits here; there are also potential risks, particularly of a currency that could potentially make large application,” Powell said. “We will wind up having quite high expectations from a safety and soundness and regulatory vantage point if they do decide to move forward with something.”
Powell noted that the Fed does not have “plenary judge” over cryptocurrencies like Libra. Instead, Powell said the central bank instead may have influence for the widespread adoption of cryptocurrency “through international forums” because the Fed has “significant input into the payment system.”