WASHINGTON, D.C. — Four Ohio lawmakers had the chance to question Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday about a digital currency platform he is trying to create.
- Bipartisan criticism of Facebook
- Some lawmakers cautiously see opportunity
- Beatty grills Zuckerberg on diversity
Zuckerberg returned to Capitol Hill to promote and defend Libra, a digital currency platform, and Calibra, a digital wallet.
“As we sit here, there are more than a billion people around the world who don’t have access to a bank account, but could through mobile phones if the right system existed,” he said in his opening statement.
The cryptocurrency debate is growing in Washington, as lawmakers literally learn about what it is.
Facebook has become the face of the conversation since signing on with two dozen other companies and non-profits to create the Libra Association, as well as build its own digital wallet, Calibra. Both need support from U.S. regulators.
Four Ohio U.S. House members — Rep. Steve Stivers (R-15), Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-03), Rep. Warren Davidson (R-08) and Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-16) — serve on the House Financial Services Committee and got to question Zuckerberg for five minutes each.
Stivers, who went first, supports blockchain technology, but he warned Zuckerberg that he was biting off more than he can chew by trying to privatize digital currency in a way that would need regulatory approval from dozens of nations.
“I’m ok with cryptocurrencies as a commodity — if people want to invest in them, just like they invest in gold and pork bellies and oranges — but I don’t think they should be a currency that exchanges value and that is used in transactions because I think that is something that countries need to control,” Stivers said.
Fellow Republican Davidson echoed those concerns.
“I have huge concerns about Libra because it aspires to be money, frankly, a currency,” he said.
But Davidson is a huge blockchain supporter who Spectrum News spoke with back in July about his legislation to regulate it.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Davidson thanked Zuckerberg for pursuing Libra.
“Even if it doesn’t succeed, what it has done is it’s raised the awareness of the industry and the profile across the country, and frankly across the planet, and very relevant to your question, across this body,” Davidson told Spectrum Washington reporter Taylor Popielarz on Wednesday.
Along with facing questions about Facebook’s role in election security, Zuckerberg was grilled by Beatty, who chairs a subcommittee on diversity and inclusion, on Facebook’s lack of diversity.
But a theme that emerged from Ohio’s members is an overall distrust in Facebook playing such a big role in the future of cryptocurrency.
“We don’t have consensus on either side about how this will work and what will happen to the consumers with this,” Beatty said. “You know, the risk factor seems overwhelming to me.”
Gonzalez, a freshman Republican, said he thinks Libra will launch — even if U.S. regulators don’t approve it. But he said the Calibra wallet may be in jeopardy.
Gonzalez said this comes down to having faith in Facebook becoming a stakeholder in an industry that has never been centrally regulated.
“In crypto land, where it’s all distributed, you don’t have to trust anybody,” he said. “Trust is gained by the distribution and the consensus. In this world, I have to trust Facebook and I don’t. And I don’t think most Americans trust Facebook.”
Zuckerberg testified that Facebook would consider leaving the Libra Association if U.S. regulators did not give it the OK.