Governments around the world are facing difficult choices when it comes to covert currency: over-regulate it and risk losing the benefits to the economy, or do nothing and become vulnerable to those who take the first steps. At present, the European Union cannot decide what to do about Libra, the digital currency to be published on Facebook in 2020.
According to a note published on 19th February by Executive Vice President Dombrovskis on behalf of the European Commission, the Libra Association has not answered EU questions. Therefore, any information provided by Facebook "remains insufficient to determine the exact nature of Libra and thus its relationship with existing EU law".
However, Dombrovskis also stated that the Commission is "willing to act quickly" in terms of exploiting the potential of crypto by organising regulation and supervision. This position is confirmed by their statement on 5th December in which they commit to supervise stable coins and monitor risks to the region's financial stability.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke before the Financial Services Committee of the US House of Representatives on 13 October last year.
Government bodies in both the United States and the EU are working on a better understanding of cryptography. The Commission has launched an open public consultation which will be available until 19 March, while the US Tax Service is preparing for the crypto summit on 3 March.
