Crypto Mixed; Libra Not a Threat to Sovereignty, Says Facebook’s David Marcus

Investing.com – Cryptocurrency prices were mixed on Tuesday in Asia. While not a directional driver, co-creator of Libra David Marcus responded to critics and said the proposed digital coin does not pose a threat to nations’ monetary sovereignty.

Bitcoin dropped 1.2% to $10,207.0 by 1:15 AM ET (05:15 GMT.) Ethereum rose 1.3% to $196.68, while XRP slipped 0.6% to $0.26042. Litecoin gained 1.2% to $72.227.

Marcus said in a Twitter thread on Monday he wanted to “debunk” the notion that Libra puts monetary sovereignty of states under threat, as suggested by France’s Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.

“Recently there’s been a lot of talk about how Libra could threaten the sovereignty of Nations when it comes to money,” tweeted Marcus. “I wanted to take the opportunity to debunk that notion.

He said that the digital coin will be tied to a set of fiat currencies and will be “backed 1:1 by a basket of strong currencies,” meaning that it is unlikely to be a threat to traditional financial systems.

“This means that for any unit of Libra to exist, there must be the equivalent value in its reserve. As such there’s no new money creation, which will strictly remain the province of sovereign Nations,” he added.

Libra representatives are meeting this week with officials from 26 central banks from the global to discuss the “scope and design” of the cryptocurrency, according to a Financial Times report.