🚫 Victims Under Political Pressure: Why Has Facebook's Cryptocurrency Project Failed Repeatedly?
Why has Facebook's Libra project (now renamed Diem) never succeeded? David Marcus, the former head of the Libra project, revealed the inside story, stating that the project's failure was mainly due to political pressure rather than regulatory issues. Marcus claimed that the failure of the Libra project was a "100% political failure."
In 2019, Facebook launched Libra, aiming to establish a fast payment blockchain platform and a corresponding stablecoin. Despite months of communication between the team and regulators, once the project was announced, Marcus was summoned to testify before Congress, initiating a two-year process of explanations and negotiations.
By 2021, the Libra team had resolved major regulatory issues and planned a small-scale pilot, but the project was indirectly warned and terminated due to opposition from Federal Reserve Chairman Powell and Treasury Secretary Yellen, especially after Yellen viewed supporting Libra as "political suicide."
Marcus emphasized that the project's halt was not due to legal or regulatory issues, but rather political decisions and pressure on banks. What he found hardest to accept was that, as an immigrant to the United States, he found it difficult to accept this decision made for political reasons.
Additionally, Libra was opposed globally as a threat to national sovereignty. French Finance Minister Le Maire opposed private cryptocurrencies, arguing that monetary authority should belong to the government. In the United States, due to lawmakers' suspicions, Zuckerberg faced six hours of questioning in Congress.
The lesson Marcus learned from this incident is that building a truly global financial system requires a neutral, decentralized network like Bitcoin, which is better suited for long-term success.
After the failure of the Libra project, many former team members joined blockchain projects like Aptos and Sui, which adopted technologies previously developed for Libra. Marcus founded a startup focused on the Bitcoin Lightning Network called Lightspark.
In summary, despite the failure of the Libra project, its technology and experience are being applied in other blockchain projects. This incident prompts us to consider how to find a balance between financial innovation, national sovereignty, and political decisions, and to explore the potential value of decentralized networks in the global financial system.