A number of U.S. lawmakers said Facebook cannot be trusted to manage cryptocurrencies and urged the social media giant to immediately halt a small pilot trial of its cryptocurrency wallet called Novi, which launched last Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. Democratic senators expressed opposition to the tech giant’s two-year-old efforts to manage a cryptocurrency and digital wallet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Facebook cannot be trusted to manage a payment system or digital currency when its existing ability to manage risks and keep consumers safe has proven wholly insufficient,” the senators wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The senators’ letter shows that even Facebook’s small pilot of its cryptocurrency is under scrutiny by lawmakers and regulators who have previously expressed antitrust concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Facebook launched a cryptocurrency project in June 2019 to expand into e-commerce and global payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the project was immediately met with strong opposition from policymakers around the world, who feared that it would lose control of the money system, encourage crime and compromise users’ privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project was renamed last December in a renewed attempt to win regulatory approval, and its scope was expanded to include a single dollar-backed digital coin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Novi spokesperson said the company was looking forward to responding to the committee’s letter.<\/p>\n\n\n