Can This Happen?

News has come out within the last 24 hours that France seeks to block the progress and development of Facebook’s Libra coin in Europe!

Originally reported on by CNBC, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Marie, a known speaker against the emergence of Libra, made a head-turning statement at the OECD conference that has put the Internet into a frenzy!

“All these concerns around libra are serious. So I want to say this with a lot of clarity: In these conditions, we cannot authorize the development of libra on European soil.”French Finance Minister/CNBC

The announcement and rapid rise of Facebook’s Libra coin have been a turbulent process, to say the least. The unveiling of the Libra coin has acted as a CALL TO ACTION for financial institutions and governments around the world to take action and publicly react to the ever-growing cryptocurrency and blockchain industry.

It’s understandable that central banks and global authorities that rely on a central power base (built on the U.S. dollar) are resisting this new form of currency. Backed by a basket of reserves, Libra is set to run using distributed software and will not be governed by a singular power, but rather a group of companies from different industries via a non-profit organization based in Switzerland: the Libra Association.

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The big question is whether they can actually ban Libra from Europe, which also moves to the debate of whether Bitcoin and other digital assets could also be banned in the distant future…

Distributed software and sound mathematics that can be hidden in a small microchip are harder to eliminate than confiscating gold or silver. Governments may need to tread incredibly carefully when regulating democratized money and innovation.

Banning Libra could be different because its nodes are run and regulated by large, accountable corporations. Bitcoin is fully distributed and open source for everyone to use.

However, the economic benefits from having the first-mover advantage could be too good to pass up. Innovative technology and alternative assets such as Bitcoin or fully-backed digital assets in an ongoing currency war could prove critical for economies across the world. If ruling powers had foresight, they would adapt and move with the times.

Anti-Libra Coin But Friendly on Crypto Tax?

While Libra gets slammed by the French official, France joins Portugal in its pro-cryptocurrency tax stance.

The Libra critic himself said that crypto-to-crypto transactions remain tax-exempt. Unlike many other countries, like the U.K., the French will only pay tax on their cryptocurrency profits when converted to national currency.

“We believe that the moment the gains are converted into traditional money is the right time to assess tax.” – French Finance Minister

This is not investment advice; please always do thorough research and only invest what you are willing to lose, especially in times of uncertainty.

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