The association meant to manage and handle the debut of Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency Libra has been dealing with some setbacks involving its acceptance, especially from Germany and France, who say they won’t allow the currency to move forward.
Reuters is reporting that despite the opposition, the association is still talking to European Union regulators in an attempt to release the currency by next year.
“There are discussions that are ongoing (with EU regulators), and we still have work to do with them and any other regulators in the world,” said Bertrand Perez, a Libra managing director.
The Libra Association includes credit card companies like Mastercard and Visa, as well as payment company PayPal and Vodafone. The currency will be backed by real-world assets, the Association said.
Perez, who worked in a senior-level position at PayPal before joining Libra, is working diligently to overcome the regulatory and oppositional obstacles facing the currency. Depending on how much progress he makes, the cryptocurrency could launch as early as June of next year. He also said that a delay of a quarter or two wouldn’t be a big problem.
“When we (made) the announcement in June, that was our North Star,” Perez said. “What is important is that we need to comply with the regulators and we need to make sure that they are on board with us and fully comfortable with our solutions.”
Perez also stressed that Libra isn’t meant to replace any existing currencies. “We are not in the area of implementing any monetary policy with the (Libra) reserve,” he said.
The Libra project, he said, could help the United Nations reach some of its most storied goals, like eliminating world poverty or achieving gender equality.
Perez was speaking at a blockchain conference hosted at the United Nation headquarters in Geneva.
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