Facebook may pull back on Libra

On Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg conceded that a situation might develop in which Facebook would have to re-think its involvement in its Libra, cryptocurrency project. If the project did not receive U.S. regulatory approval, Facebook would need to revise its policy.

“If at the end of the day we don’t receive the clearances,” Zuckerberg said, “we will not be a part of the association.”

The tech giant was betting that introducing Libra can help Facebook users transact with businesses directly, which in turn could “lead to higher prices for ads” on the platform, Zuckerberg said Wednesday. “We may see a positive business impact,” he said.

Zuckerberg returned to Capitol Hill to testify before the House Financial Services Committee over Facebook’s plans for Libra. However, lawmakers have expanded the focus of the hearing to include a wider range of concerns.

Maxine Waters, the chair of the committee, kicked off the hearing by listing off the company’s history of running discriminatory housing ads and other such concerns. “You’re willing to step on anyone — your competitors, women and people of color, even our democracy,” Waters said in her opening remarks.

“I believe that this is something that needs to get built, but I get that I’m not the ideal messenger for this right now,” Zuckerberg said. “We’ve faced a lot of issues over the past few years. I’m sure there are a lot of people who wish it was anyone but Facebook who proposed this.”

The stakes are high for Zuckerberg’s performance on Wednesday. Many lawmakers have not ruled out the possibility that they could try to block Libra altogether.

The hearing represents yet another hurdle for the effort to bring Libra to life, which Facebook and its partners had hoped to do by mid-2020. That timeline now appears uncertain.

Still, the group has forged ahead with setting up the early governance structure and articles of association for the Libra Association. “People pay far too high a cost — and have to wait far too long — to send money home to their families abroad. The current system is failing them,” Zuckerberg said in his prepared remarks.

Although the hearing lasted for six hours, the committee’s ranking member Rep. Patrick McHenry said he is not sure the committee members had “learned anything new here.”