Facebook’s Libra is already in the centre of the study of governors and lawmakers. Other crypto backers are worried and presently are struggling to guarantee the fusillade doesn’t take them down, too.
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Crypto lobbyists are attempting to persuade lawmakers that efforts to reduce or stop Libra coin shouldn’t apply to Bitcoin and other older digital currencies. The lobbying will take on new importance during the following weeks, as lawmakers come back from break and renew tries to explain and rein in Libra.
Director of Blockchain Association Kristin Smith said they don’t want Congress members to come in and author legislation that intends to go after Facebook and inadvertently takes out the other part of the industry.
The statement of Facebook made in June saying that the corporation is trying to issue its cryptocurrency to ease online payments and make them cheaper faced the pushback from Washington.
President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell have all questioned Libra. Trump made several posts on Twitter in July saying that Libra “will have little standing or dependability” and that he is “not a fan” of BTC and other cryptocurrencies.
The US regulators are preparing to create laws that would make it harder, if not impossible, for Libra to start. Of course, this can affect other crypto projects too.
The result may be crucial for Bitcoin, Ether and scores of other cryptocurrencies that the market values in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
The Blockchain Association’s Smith said the trade group met with the offices of 60 lawmakers during the two weeks before the hearings, to distance Bitcoin from Libra. The meetings involved the staffs of most of the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committee members.
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Supporters of digital currency worry that some of the suggested legislative measures would likely quash more digital currencies than just Libra. Bitcoin, its backers argue, is less a currency than a store of value because its price can move up or down. But so-called stable coins, such as USD Coin and Tether, have a fixed price and could be hit by legislation such as Schatz’s proposal. Libra is similar to stable coins but would be backed by several different currencies and debt instruments rather than by only the U.S. dollar.
Bitcoin and Libra “aren’t rivals. They’re completely different things,” said Jerry Brito, who runs Coin Center Inc.