David Marcus accuses Janet Yellen of vetoing the establishment of the Libra/Diem stablecoin.
In June 2019, Facebook unveiled its ambitious Libra project, a digital currency initiative that aimed to revolutionise the global financial system. The project, which attracted a host of household names including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and Stripe, also had the backing of the social media giant itself.
However, the unveiling of Libra caused a state of collective panic among central banks around the world. The fear of disruption to the traditional financial system was palpable, and political pressure soon followed.
A turning point in the project's history came last week, when venture capitalist Marc Andreessen discussed the de-banking of cryptocurrency firms on the Joe Rogan show. This discussion seemed to have ignited political moves to shut down the Libra project.
As the pressure mounted, David Marcus, co-founder of the Libra/Diem stablecoin project, published a post describing the events leading to the project's shutdown. The political moves, he explained, had made it impossible for the project to continue as planned.
In the wake of the shutdown, the Libra project underwent a rebranding process and emerged as Diem, a new entity with the same ambitious goals. However, the search results do not currently provide the names of the current leaders of Diem.
The shutdown of the Libra project may have significant implications for the future of cryptocurrency regulation. As governments and central banks grapple with the potential disruption caused by digital currencies, the Libra/Diem saga serves as a cautionary tale.
Despite the setbacks, the dream of a global, decentralised currency system remains alive. The future of digital currencies, and the role they will play in our financial lives, is yet to be written.
