chepicap.com
In the wake of the press conference coming from the US Treasury Secretary, it seems that the United Kingdom may be taking a different approach to the Libra. Today the UK's finance minister, Philip Hammond, went on CNBC's Squawk Box to discuss his governments response to Facebook's new coin. He feels that it should be financial regulators, not politicians, who should determine policy on Libra.
When discussing recent tweets from US President Donald Trump which said that Facebook would need to become a bank if it wanted to issue a currency, Hammond said the following:
"That is an issue for the regulators. We have an independent regulatory system as you do and that is essentially an issue for the regulators to determine, not for politicians to determine."
It seems the UK is a bit more embracing of the Libra than the US currently is. Hammond affirmed that he knew that the Libra was unique from Bitcoin due to its very nature, and that there certainly are risks involved with the introduction of a new currency, such as money laundering. Despite all of this, he made it clear the UK would not be banning or outlawing the Libra, but instead would work with it:
"We’re not going to turn our back to it or try to stop it. We’re going to engage with it and try to work with others to ensure that it is effectively regulated."
This is certainly a more relaxed approach than it seems is coming from the United States. Will we see the Libra perform better in the UK due to a more engaged government approach? Stick with Chepicap for all updates!