This archive report was first published on 14 July 2019.
Published on July 14, 2019, Facebook's planned virtual unit Libra has been under intense scrutiny from global regulators and the wider cryptocurrency community.
At a recent FinTech Week event in London, about two-thirds of the 100 experts and media in attendance expressed distrust in Libra by raising their hands.
Helen Disney, founder of Unblocked Events, acknowledged growing doubts over Libra's governance and regulation.
"People are concerned about how the governance... would work," Disney told AFP.
Libra, backed by a basket of real-world currencies, is expected to launch in the first half of 2020 and will be co-managed by 100 partner firms, including Facebook's Calibra division.
However, the cryptocurrency community remains skeptical, with some questioning Libra's decentralization and others raising concerns over Facebook's privacy record.
"Can't wait for a cryptocurrency with the ethics of Uber, the censorship resistance of PayPal, and the centralisation of Visa, all tied together under the proven privacy of Facebook," said Sarah Jamie Lewis, head of Open Privacy.
US President Donald Trump has also weighed in, slamming virtual currencies for their alleged shadowy nature and arguing that Libra had no standing nor dependability.
