Just days after Facebook announced details of its prospective cryptocurrency Libra , US authorities have said that they will hold a hearing to examine the new cryptocurrency.
The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs released a short statement on its website on Thursday announcing the hearing.
Titled 'Examining Facebook’s Proposed Digital Currency and Data Privacy Considerations,' the hearing will, as the name suggests, examine data privacy issues surrounding the new currency.
Currently, there are no witnesses scheduled to speak at the hearing.
Witnesses at Senate hearings can come from almost any background. It could be academics, company representatives, government officials, or prominent members of the public that are likely to be affected by whatever the subject of the hearing is.
There is also a level of bi-partisan support for the move to bring Facebook to a hearing.
A rare instance of political unity
The House of Representatives has also called for a hearing, with Democrat Maxine Waters and Republican Patrick McHenry calling for the tech giant to testify before the House Finance Committee.
Waters, a far-left politician from California, has even asked that Facebook cease development of Libra until Congress can examine the privacy and financial risk that the cryptocurrency poses.
“With the announcement that it plans to create a cryptocurrency, Facebook is continuing its unchecked expansion and extending its reach into the lives of its users,” Waters, who has 335,000 Facebook followers, said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Given the company’s troubled past, I am requesting that Facebook agree to a moratorium on any movement forward on developing a cryptocurrency until Congress and regulators have the opportunity to examine these issues and take action.”
