With key Libra partners departing last week and a new report by the G7 throwing the future of the project into further jeopardy, U.S Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin has become the latest to pour cold water on the possibility of Facebook succeeding with their plans.
In a live appearance on Monday where the top U.S official was deliberating on the ongoing trade war with China and how the States is gaining the upper hand, he was also asked to weigh in his thoughts on Facebook’s Libra project.
The focus was on the recent decisions by Mastercard, Visa, eBay, Stripe, and PayPal to leave the Libra project within a week after U.S lawmakers Sherrod Brown, Brian Schatz, and others wrote the companies to reconsider their stance with the Libra project.
Commenting on the withdrawal of these former Libra Association members and whether the approach taken by lawmakers on the issue was fair, Steve Mnuchin told CNBC:
I wouldn’t give them [the lawmakers] too much credit, because at Treasury we wrote letters as well and we’ve been very clear. I’ve met with the representatives of Libra multiple times [….] and we’ve been very clear with them.
He also added that while the letters sent to the companies could be considered “threatening,” the downline is that regulators will take enforcement actions against Libra Association members if they proposed payment system does not meet the anti-money laundering used by Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
“I think they realized that they are not ready; they are not up to par. And I assume some of the partners got concerned and dropped out until they meet those standards,” Mnuchin said in conclusion.
Notably, the U.S Treasury Secretary is also on the record for saying that ‘cash is not laundered all the time‘ in a bid to portray Bitcoin as the primary tool for such nefarious activity.
