It has been stated by the head of the organization who is set up to oversee the cryptocurrency of Facebook that the launch of Libra (cryptocurrency of Facebook) could be delayed due to the controversy of regulatory concerns. Around three months ago, Facebook announced that they are planning to launch the digital currency- Libra by June 2020 along with the other members involved in the partnership- Libra Association which was set up by the US tech giant to manage the project. However, the attempt to pull cryptocurrencies to the mainstream has since met with regulatory and political skepticism worldwide, and France and Germany have vowed to block Libra from operating in Europe. Discussions are ongoing with regulators from Europe and elsewhere to stop concerns said the managing director of the Geneva-based Libra Association- Bertrand Perez. Perez said about June 2020 launch date that when the announcement was made in June, that was their North Star and now there will be a delay of one or two quarters in launching Libra and it would not be an issue. "What is important is that we need to comply with the regulators and we need to make sure that they are on board with us and fully comfortable with our solutions." "We knew that we would have to answer lots of questions coming from regulators on both sides of the Atlantic, and from other parts of the world," he said in an interview at the United Nations offices in Geneva. Libra, announced as Facebook’s Cryptocurrency will expand into e-commerce and will be backed by a reserve of real-world assets, including bank deposits and short-term government securities. It will be overseen by the 28-member association. The purpose of this structure is to build confidence and stabilize price volatility, which plagues currencies and makes them impractical for trading and payments. The executive leading the project at Facebook- David Marcus said that the company is looking forward to launch Libra in 2020. He said "The goal is still to launch Libra next year. Until then, we'll need to address all questions adequately, create a suitable regulatory environment." The association has so far left the project behind Facebook, but Perez emphasized that it is independent of the social media giant, which has an equal voice in the decision-making process of other members of the association. Other members of the association are PayPal, Vodafone, Mastercard and Visa. The group also plans to bring more members on board shortly, mostly banks. The senior director of payments engineering for PayPal before starting at Libra this May- Perez said "It's known this project was incubated at Facebook and started at Facebook, but at an early stage, there was a decision that this should be a public good not controlled by a single entity". "The Libra Association is an association and not a subsidiary of Facebook."
