Facebook is discussing its crypto plans with the CFTC
The Financial Times reports that Facebook is discussing its plans to launch a stablecoin with U.S. regulatory agency Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The agency’s chairman Christopher Giancarlo said the two parties are discussing whether the proposed cryptocurrency would fall under CFTC’s domain. He added:
“We’re very interested in understanding it better. We can only act on an application, we don’t have anything in front of us.”
However, these conversations are in the “very early stages”, according to Giancarlo. CFTC’s involvement with “GlobalCoin” markets could also depend on whether there will be derivatives markets tied to the cryptocurrency. If the coin will successfully maintain a stable value, there might not be much demand for derivatives tied to its price.
The firm has been talking to crypto exchanges as well
Recent reports have also indicated that the social media giant has held talks with the Gemini and Coinbase cryptocurrency exchanges in connection to its cryptocurrency plans. The firm also reportedly discussed its cryptocurrency with Bank of England governor Mark Carney. GlobalCoin will likely be pegged to a basket of fiat currencies to avoid price volatility, and will be used for payments on the Facebook platform, as well as on the Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Instagram applications.
For cryptocurrency enthusiasts, one of the most interesting factors about what platform Facebook’s stablecoin will operate on. It would be particularly impactful if Facebook opted to use a public blockchain that’s already available. For example, the majority of the most popular stablecoins are based on Ethereum. However, not many technical details about GlobalCoin are known so far, as Facebook has been rather secretive about the project.
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Stablecoins