Facebook will not roll out its cryptocurrency Libra until it has fully addressed regulatory concerns.
The statement comes after top lawmakers called on Facebook to testify about its plans to offer banking-related services.
David Marcus, the head of Facebook’s cryptocurrency projects said: “We do not expect Calibra to make money at the outset, and Calibra customers’ account and financial information will not be shared with Facebook, Inc., and as a result cannot be used for ad targeting. Our first goal is to create utility and adoption, enabling people around the world — especially the unbanked and underbanked —to take part in the financial ecosystem.
“But we expect that the Calibra wallet will be immediately beneficial to Facebook more broadly because it will allow many of the 90 million small- and medium-sized businesses that use the Facebook platform to transact more directly with Facebook’s many users, which we hope will result in consumers and businesses using Facebook more. That increased usage is likely to yield greater advertising revenue for Facebook.”