This week, the world's largest social media company published details on its plans to launch Libra, a new cryptocurrency that would be backed by a basket of fiat currencies and other traditional assets. According to the Libra white paper, the Libra cryptocurrency would be hosted on a permissioned network governed by a Swiss nonprofit foundation and co-hosted by nodes run by an initial group of 28 founding member firms. The founding member firms include well-known companies from the payments, technology, telecommunications, blockchain and venture capital industries. The day after Libra was announced, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee set a date for hearings to examine the venture, and soon after, France, which holds the rotating presidency of the G7, announced a G7 task force to examine how cryptocurrencies such as Libra are regulated.
Late last week, Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, announced that it will soon stop serving U.S. customers as it begins plans to launch a U.S.-based affiliate exchange that will be licensed and regulated under U.S. laws. In another announcement this week, two U.S.-based technology startups released details on an initiative that would enable customers on the world's largest e-commerce platform to pay for purchases using ether and other ERC20 tokens hosted by the Ethereum Network.
This week, the Litecoin Foundation announced plans to release a physical cryptocurrency debit card that would allow cardholders to spend Litecoin using traditional credit and debit point-of-sale systems. And according to data released by a Chicago-based global derivatives marketplace, interest in bitcoin futures contracts spiked to an all-time high this week. The data was accompanied by remarks indicating increased interest in bitcoin futures from institutional investors.
For more information, please refer to the following links:
- Welcome to Libra: A simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people
- Senate banking committee sets July date to hold hearing on Facebook Libra coin
- Facebook Token Runs Into Instant Political Opposition in Europe
- France creates G7 cryptocurrency task force as Facebook's Libra unsettles governments
- Binance to Stop Serving US Traders Following Announcement of US-Dedicated Platform
- Cutting-Edge Collaboration Between Clic Technology and Opporty to Result in Ethereum Purchases on Amazon
- Litecoin Foundation to Release Physical Cryptocurrency Debit Card
- CME: Open Interest in Bitcoin Futures Contracts Hit All-Time High
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