In a move to directly blocks off Facebook’s Libra and other tech giants planning to delve into the murky waters of digital currencies, U.S. lawmakers are putting action to their words.
A new bill is now under proposal looking to ban technology giants from issuing their own digital currencies.
The bill which has been named “Keep Big Tech Out Of Finance Act,” will amongst other things state that:
“A large platform utility may not establish, maintain, or operate a digital asset that is intended to be widely used as medium of exchange, unit of account, store of value, or any other similar function, as defined by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.”
The bill seeks to holistically cover every area of digital currencies in particular and blockchain in general called digital assets.
The bill describes digital assets as: “an asset that is issued and transferred using distributed ledger or blockchain technology, including, so-called ‘virtual currencies,’ ‘coins,’ and ‘tokens.’”
Under the draft bill, any technology company with over 25 billion in global revenue will be covered under the bill if it eventually becomes law.
The move of the U.S. lawmakers is coming less than two months after Facebook unveiled plans to launch its own digital currency called Libra. To be issued under the auspices of the Libra Association, Libra will have its own digital wallet called Calibra.
Facebook has faced intense scrutiny and pressure to halt work on the project by American lawmakers who argued that the digital currency would rival the position of the US Dollar as a major currency of reserve as well as privacy-related criticisms giants the tech giants.
In a recent comment on Twitter, President Donald Trump who said he is not a fan of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, in general, he said Facebook could be required to have a banking charter if it plans to go ahead with Libra.
