Mastercard CEO: Libra "doesn't sound right" / China accelerated CBDC in response to Libra / Survey: Trust in banks to issue digital currency

Inside Libra.

Presented by Subscribe | View in browser 1. Ajay Banga, CEO of Mastercard, has revealed why the company pulled out of Facebook's Libra project, saying that it didn't "sound right." Mastercard was one of the original members of the Libra Association, which initially started with 28 members. However, within months of Facebook announcing Libra last June, Mastercard stepped away from it amid increasing concern from global regulators. Now, in an interview, Banga has said that he "doesn't understand how [Libra] works," adding that Facebook was unable to address concerns regarding financial inclusion, how it would comply with local laws, and a business model that would generate money. In Banga's opinion, promises of financial inclusion now appear to be in doubt because of the way the currency's digital wallet, Calibra, works. Explaining further, he said that for financial inclusion to work, a government has to pay a person in a currency in a way they understand in order to purchase what they need. "If you get paid in Libra... which go into Calibras [digital wallets], which go back into pounds to buy rice, I don't understand how that works," he added. Other companies that have stepped away from Libra include Visa, PayPal, Stripe, and, more recently, Vodafone. -FINANCIAL TIMES 2. Michael Sung, a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, has said that because of Libra, China has accelerated its efforts to create its own nationwide digital solution. Sung made the comments while at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Speaking on the sidelines, he spoke about blockchain projects and digital currency in China. For nearly half a decade, Sung has been following the new currency project in the country as the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) built out its plans for a digital solution. Touching on the topic of Libra, Sung is of the opinion that the CPC increased work on the project because of Facebook's stablecoin project. Sung said: "Mu Changchun, who is the head of the official Digital Currency Research Institute, ran back to Beijing and held a special workshop for all the Communist officials and decided, 'OK, get in front of this.'"-COIN DESK A MESSAGE FROM LADDER Apply in 5 minutes and get an instant decision on term life insurance. Ladder is life insurance you’ll love to get. Answer a few questions online and voilà! If you qualify, we’ll cover you with the click of a button. There are no hidden fees, and you can cancel or adjust your coverage anytime. Zero hassles, 100% love. Check Your Price 3. Former Banque de France governor, Christian Noyer, has said that a decline in the use of cash, and a rise in private crypto assets such as Libra, has pushed several central banks to look into the possibilities of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). However, Noyer added that there was "clear hesitation" among the top financial institutions regarding privacy and the impact it could have on monetary control. He went on to say that "whether they will enact the projects in the next 10 years remains to be seen." -FINANCIAL TIMES 4. A survey published by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) has found that central banks instead of technology companies such as Facebook are the preferred issuers of digital currency. The survey saw responses from 13,000 people in 13 countries and noted that half of the respondents had more faith in central banks. This is compared to major technology companies who were the least trusted, which came with a 37 percent rating. -BLOOMBERG A MESSAGE FROM RAGING BULL Don’t Just Beat the Market… Crush It School teacher turned expert trader, Jason Bond, is offering a free look inside his 2 Simple Trading Patterns that he teaches all his students. Start trading like a pro here. Learn More Now! 5. Dante A. Disparte, vice-chair of the Libra Association, has said in an interview that things are moving forward for the Libra project despite the recent departures of the likes of Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, and Vodafone. He went on to say that "the firms that have left, I think, have left with a door wide open for future opportunities to engage in collaboration." -COIN DESK 6. Wired's Barclay Bram looks at the work China is doing to create the first sovereign digital currency, which it's hoping to do before Facebook launches its Libra stablecoin. According to the report, Libra has been singled out as a particular threat that China wants to get ahead of. -WIRED 7. In case you missed it: At the end of December, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, said that Facebook will face hurdles because it "let the public down." In an interview, Garlinghouse said that the "new world order of digital assets" was grounded on trust. "People trust Bitcoin, they trust Ether, they trust XRP," he said, adding that when it comes to Facebook, "they've let the public down." -LIBRA COIN NEWS This newsletter was written and curated by Rebecca Campbell. She has been writing and reporting on various industries for the past 10 years, more specifically tech in the last three. Connect with her on Twitter. Edited by Beth Duckett, staff writer at Inside. 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