Swiss president: The current form of Facebook's Libra has 'failed'

Facebook • December 27, 2019, 1:55PM EST

UPDATED: December 27, 2019, 2:22PM EST

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Facebook's Libra stablecoin has failed in its current form, according to Swiss president Ueli Maurer.

In an interview with Swiss broadcaster SRF, Maurer stated that Libra does not have a chance of being successful "because the basket of currencies that is deposited in this currency is not accepted by the national [central] banks."

"The project in this form has actually failed," Maurer added.

As it stands, the nascent project is still in development and is not yet a live, active network. Last week, Libra published a second roadmap outlining plans for its mainnet launch, currently slated for 2020.

In October, several prominent backers of Libra, including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, withdrew from the Libra Association. A few weeks later, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before a U.S. House committee to address lawmaker concerns around Libra.

At the hearing, Zuckerberg said that the social media giant would quit the Libra Association if the project does not get full approval from U.S. regulators.

About Author

Steven Zheng is a researcher for The Block. He joined The Block in August 2018. Steven graduated from St. John’s University with a degree in economics. Previously, he covered blockchain and crypto at Radicle, a startup analytics firm. He also had brief stints at Cheddar, a media startup, and Bowery Capital, a venture capital firm. He owns bitcoin. Follow Steven on Twitter at: @Dogetoshi