At the New York event, Dorsey also responded to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony before the U.S. House Financial Service Committee on Wednesday, according to tweets from The Hollywood Reporter journalist Alex Weprin.
Dorsey replied with an conclusive “Hell no” to the question of his firm’s potential membership of the Facebook-led crypto payments scheme at a New York City-based Twitter event, The Verge reported Thursday.
Dorsey further argued that Libra didn’t have to be built around a cryptocurrency to fulfill its purpose.
He explained that Libra is not based on an open standard, “born on the internet”, and as such:
“It was born out of a company’s intention, and it’s not consistent with what I personally believe and what I want our company to stand for.”
A noted bitcoin and lightning network advocate, Dorsey launched Square Crypto earlier this year for open development on the bitcoin network. In August, Square Crypto hired bitcoin developer Matt Corallo followed by three other dev hires in September from Facebook, Lightning Labs, and Google.
“A lot of it seemed to be based in American tradition”, Dorsey said. “I fear that if we base too much in this one concept, we take away the ability to experiment and expand.”
Twitter will not be joining the Libra Association, according to CEO Jack Dorsey.
Dorsey added:
“We are not just serving an American audience, we are serving a global audience … The internet is somewhat of an emerging nation-state.”
In his hearing, Zuckerberg notably said Facebook would be compelled to leave the Libra Association if the project went live before meeting regulatory requirements. The Libra Association is still seeking some 80 additional members before the expected mid-to-late 2020 launch, according to a Libra representative speaking with CoinDesk earlier this month.
‘Fluffypony’ Weighs In on CBDCs at Davos 2020
Riccardo Spagni, better known as “Fluffypony”, discusses privacy and whether or not central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are just a fleeting thing. The Monero community leader speaks with CoinDesk’s Leigh Cuen in Davos, Switzerland.
«There’s less hype, but more talk,» said Spagni. «It’s kind of like one of those things where people say they are building a fintech product that has AI and blockchain.»
Spagni sees blockchain as moving into an offensive role now that privacy is gaining a more important role in computing.
«Companies like Apple are mainstreaming privacy,» he said. «They’re saying it’s okay to turn around and say to a government, ‘I’m not going to comply with your regulation because I’m a big company that doesn’t need to. I’m going to continue giving privacy back to the people.’»
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‘Digital Dollar’ Stripped From Latest US Coronavirus Relief Bill
Mentions of a «digital dollar» in a coronavirus-related relief bill before the U.S. House of Representatives – one of the two chambers of Congress – have been scrubbed.
The lawmakers introduced the bill last week, envisioning a digital payment system organized by the Federal Reserve and its member banks to directly send these funds to U.S. residents to assist them with expenses during the COVID-19 mitigation measures, which have already resulted in massive unemployment and a potentially severe recession.
In the latest 1,404-page draft, U.S. residents would receive $1,500 per person, though individuals with an income greater than $75,000 and couples with an income greater than $150,000 would have to repay the funds.
The section detailing the payments, which starts on page 1,090, appears to be less specific on how these payments would be sent to individuals than previous versions have been.
While the draft bill introduced by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Monday no longer includes any language around a digital dollar, a separate bill introduced by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), titled the «Financial Protections and Assistance for America’s Consumers, States, Businesses, and Vulnerable Populations Act,» still mentions the digital dollar.
The language is expected to be removed from that bill as well, according to a source familiar with the matter.
