Dombrovskis: There is a need to clarify the status of Libra

The Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, urges the foundation Libra to communicate more details on his project cryptocurrency.

In order to advance on the creation and implementation of a regulatory framework for the stable cryptocurrencies (stablecoins) in Europe, Valdis Dombrovskis declared – on behalf of the European Commission – that “it was necessary to clarify the legal status of the initiative Libra “.

Information available on Libra and its ecosystem lack details. The Commission therefore sent the association a series of questions to obtain more details on the project. However, as Libra is still a project, and therefore evolves, the information provided remains insufficient to determine the precise nature of Libra and, by extension, its relationship to existing Community law, ”explained Dombrovskis.

In December, in a joint statement, the Council of the EU and the European Commission announced that the private projects of stablecoins as Libra would not be allowed in the territory until “the legal, regulatory and supervisory challenges and risks have been properly identified and addressed”.

They (Council of the EU and the European Commission) are committed to putting in place a framework that will exploit the potential opportunities that crypto-assets can offer. They are ready to act quickly, “added the European official, adding that the public consultation was open until March 19, 2020.

Since the announcement of Libra in June 2019, the foundation encountered difficulties in carrying out its project. The regulators, in Europe but also in the United States, block the initiative and several members of the consortium, in particular MasterCard and more recently Vodaphone, have already preferred to leave the ship.

However, the Libra Association remains confident for a launch in 2020said Patrick Ellis, one of five members of Libra’s board of directors, in December.

Last month, the president ofAnchorage, the founder of Bison Trails and 3 other industry specialists have joined the steering committee of the foundation based in Switzerland in Geneva.