US Lawmakers Hold Day Two of Hearings on Facebook’s New Cryptocurrency, Libra

During the recent hearings, members of Congress scrutinized the governance structure of the Libra Organization, an independent entity based in Switzerland responsible for managing the blockchain technology behind Facebook’s new digital currency.

David Marcus, the head of Facebook’s subsidiary Calibra, emphasized that despite Facebook’s involvement in the project’s development and funding, it would not have complete control over Libra. He also reassured that no single member of the 100-member organization would have more than a 1% stake in Libra. However, many lawmakers remain skeptical of a governance structure closely tied to Facebook.

Throughout the hearing, Marcus fielded questions on various topics such as privacy, consumer protection, and censorship. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez probed further, questioning the lack of democratic elections within the organization. Marcus acknowledged the absence of democratic selection but assured that proper regulatory oversight would be in place.

The Libra Association comprises key players in the financial sector, including Marcus’s former employer PayPal, as well as Visa, MasterCard, Uber, Lyft, Stripe, eBay, and other startups, non-profits, and venture capital firms.