“Regulators, not legislators, must decide the fate of Libra”

British Treasury Secretary Philip Hammond said that the government is not going to put obstacles in the way of Facebook cryptocurrency and will even assist it.

During the performance
in the CNBC channel’s Squawk Box, Hammond expressed confidence that only regulators can decide whether Facebook should get a banking license or not. Lawmakers and politicians in different countries should not do this.

“This is a question of regulators. We have an independent regulatory system, if you didn’t know, and this issue should be decided by regulators, not politicians, ”the Minister of Finance of Great Britain emphasized.

He also said that he quite liked the concept of the stable Libra and, in the case of proper regulation of the project, he would become a very positive thing.

“We are not going to turn our backs on him or try to stop him. We will work with Libra and with other companies and make sure that it is properly and qualitatively regulated, ”said Philip Hammond.

At the same time, he stressed that without sufficient and reliable regulation, the project could be an ideal tool for criminals and even pose significant risks to the financial system. He added that he sees significant differences between Libra and Bitcoin, due to the structure of ownership and management of these cryptocurrencies.

Recall that last week, US President Donald Trump spoke rather sharply
in relation to bitcoin and the libra project. Yesterday, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin noted that he did not feel comfortable about Libra.