Facebook Executive: Libra launch may take decades, but it's worth it

Facebook executive Kevin Weil recently stated at a summit that the process of adoption for Libra will not be as smooth as social networks, and it will take decades to officially launch products in the cryptocurrency field.

Kevin Weil claims that the rigorous regulatory scrutiny on the Libra project will not affect its operation, and in the long run, overcoming these challenges will be very worthwhile.

Looking Ahead

According to reports, Facebook's Vice President of Product, Kevin Weil, recently shared his views on the Libra project at a summit held at the Lisbon Convention Center. He addressed the audience at the conference:

It's not going to be as fast as social networks have grown. This is going to be decades of work, not years, and it's worth doing.

In fact, the timeline for the Libra project's launch in June 2020 has been heavily questioned. The project has drawn attention from global regulatory bodies, with concerns raised about various aspects of issuing a cryptocurrency.

Some are worried that Libra could be used as a means to fund terrorism. Some governments see it as a threat to national sovereignty. During a recent congressional hearing attended by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, various members of the U.S. Congress expressed opposition to the proposal.

Several Founding Members Exit

In reality, regulatory pressure may have come from several major partners of the Libra project, as several founding members announced their exit from the project just hours before Facebook held its inaugural meeting last month, including Mastercard, Visa, eBay, and mobile payment company Stripe.

Despite facing scrutiny, Weil remains optimistic about the future of the project. He emphasized:

The Libra Association still has 21 founding members. The project is nearly 18 months along, and I expect the number of Libra Association members to continue to grow.

Weil also reiterated that the main use case for Libra is remittances. Financial systems like Libra will allow the public with cross-border remittance needs to do so at a lower cost.

However, in line with the CEO, Weil did not provide a specific reason as to why a completely new digital currency is needed to facilitate global fast payments.

Finally, Weil acknowledged that some people may not like the idea of using a currency built by Facebook. He stated:

I completely understand that. Users don’t have to use Facebook products to access the high accessibility and lower-cost financial services provided by the Libra ecosystem.

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