Facebook’s dream of being a cryptocurrency giant is seemingly becoming more distant by the day, as increasing regulatory uncertainty continues to jeopardize the company’s Libra project. While Libra has been surrounded by anything but good news even before its launch, crypto watchers should ask themselves, Does Bitcoin need Libra to thrive at all? A crypto world without Libra — is that a good thing or not? What would a no-Libra crypto world be like, and how would that impact Bitcoin?
Despite its innovative approach and its ambition as a global currency, Facebook’s Libra seems to remain an unwelcome presence in the world of traditional finance, especially from a regulatory perspective. Just recently, a G-7 report warned that a global cryptocurrency like Libra could pose a risk to the global financial system. The report highlighted Anti-Money Laundering (AML) concerns, a translation of which reads: