eBay Chief Says Libra Is A Risk, But Shows Promise

The CEO of eBay, Devin Wenig, said his company’s support of Libra could potentially be a gamble, but that if it pays off it will be worthwhile, according to a report by CNBC.

“Will Libra work? I think it is speculative,” Wenig said. “We all know that. But it is promising, and it’s worth a try.”

Facebook announced Libra last month, with potential plans to launch it by 2020. Since the announcement, there has been scrutiny from central banks, world leaders and regulators about the potential effects Libra could have on the financial market as a whole.

Libra will be run by a nonprofit organization and will be based in Switzerland. Facebook says it has a wide range of backers that will ensure the currency is stable and not as volatile as other cryptocurrency, like bitcoin and Ethereum.

“We are sponsors of this, in part, because crypto and blockchain in particular have great promise,” said Wenig. “A well-run public blockchain that the marketplaces adopt could do immense good.”

The essential goal of blockchain in terms of crypto is to make it as easy to send money as it is to send a text, to anywhere in the world.

“Legitimate questions have been raised by regulators,” Wenig said. “We’ll let Facebook respond to those.”

Before his appearance in Congress, David Marcus, who is heading up the Libra project, released a statement about how the currency will be regulated.

“The Libra Association expects that it will be licensed, regulated and subject to supervisory oversight. Because the Association is headquartered in Geneva, it will be supervised by the Swiss Financial Markets Supervisory Authority (FINMA),” Marcus said. “We have had preliminary discussions with FINMA and expect to engage with them on an appropriate regulatory framework for the Libra Association. The Association also intends to register with FinCEN [the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network] as a money services business.”