Facebook has started a discussion with the U.S. Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over the social media giantâs crypto stablecoin initiative.
According to a report from the Financial Times on Sunday, the CFTC chairman Christopher Giancarlo said the agency held âvery early stages of conversationsâ with Facebook. The goal was to better understand if the firmâs crypto stablecoin could potentially fall under the CFTCâs regulatory remit.
âWeâre very interested in understanding it better,â Giancarlo was quoted as saying in the report. âWe can only act on an application, we donât have anything in front of us.â
The news comes amid recent reports that Facebook also held talks with government officials in both the U.S. and the U.K. to discuss opportunities and regulatory issues for its crypto stablecoin called GlobalCoin.
The cryptocurrency, under Facebookâs Project Libra, is reportedly aimed to allow Facebookâs global users to transfer money across borders and to make online purchases.
Giancarlo added itâs now too soon to say whether Facebookâs GlobalCoin could fall under CFTCâs remit but said if the cryptocurrency could be backed by the U.S. dollar, then there might be less of a need for derivatives tied to it.
âThatâs very clever,â Giancarlo said of this design. However, the report added that one top compliance issue by regulators is whether and how Facebook will adhere to and implement the anti-money laundering and know-your-customer measures.
CFTCÂ image via Shutterstock