Senators from the United States have demanded Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to end the company’s crypto wallet test and pledge to not bringing the cryptocurrency Diem to market. The lawmakers said that Facebook cannot be trusted to handle a payment system or digital currency when its current ability to manage risks and keep customers secure has proven completely inadequate.
Senators from the United States have asked Facebook to halt its crypto wallet experiment
Senators Brian Schatz, Sherrod Brown, Richard Blumenthal, Elizabeth Warren, and Tina Smith issued a letter to Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday, after the social network giant unveiled a beta version of its cryptocurrency wallet Novi.
For the pilot, Facebook has selected Coinbase, a Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange.
Novi’s users who want to participate in the pilot can buy USDP (pax dollar) with Novi account, and it will deposit with Coinbase custody. Novi’s users will then be able to send USDP to each other instantly, according to Coinbase.
The senators wrote, citing various Facebook scandals
Given the scope of the scandals surrounding your company, we write to voice our strongest opposition to Facebook’s revived efforts to launch a cryptocurrency and digital wallet, now branded ‘Diem’ and ‘Novi,’ respectively.
According to the letter, Facebook has stated numerous times that it will not introduce a digital currency unless federal banking regulators approve it.
The lawmakers went on to say that despite these assurances, The social media giant is pursuing digital currency plans on an aggressive timeline and has already launched a pilot for payments infrastructure network, even though these plans are incompatible with the actual financial regulatory landscape — not only for Diem specifically, but for stablecoins in general.
The letter also says that aside from the risks that products like Diem bring to financial stability, you have not provided a satisfactory explanation for how Diem can prevent illicit financial flows and other criminal conduct.
The letter further illustrates that Facebook’s plan to explore a digital currency and payments network is another illustration of the company’s commitment to’moving fast and breaking things (and, in too many cases, misleading Congress in order to do so). Time and time again, Facebook has made conscious business decisions to continue with behaviors that have hurt its users and the greater society.
The senators went on to say:
Facebook cannot be trusted to manage a payment system or digital currency when its existing ability to manage risks and keep consumers safe has proven wholly insufficient
The legislators requested finally on the letter to end the Facebook’s Novi pilot immediately and pledge to not bringing Diem to market.
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