Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings joins Facebook-backed Libra digital currency project

Despite facing intense scrutiny from global regulators, Facebook’s Libra project saw Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings joining the cryptocurrency project. Financial regulators are worried that the Libra project when launched could erode national control over money. Late on Thursday, Switzerland-based Libra Association, which manages the Facebook-backed digital currency project, announced Temasek entry into the project.…

U.S. tech firms collaborating to combat Wuhan coronavirus misinformation

In a joint statement, U.S. technology companies, including Alphabet’s Google, Microsoft Corp, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Reddit, and YouTube are working together to quell misinformation about the coronavirus on their platforms. The companies said they were coordination with government healthcare agencies around the world to share critical updates about the Wuhan coronavirus. According to Johns Hopkins…

U.S. Federal Reserve looking at potentially issuing its own digital currency

In a statement, Governor Lael Brainard of the U.S. Federal Reserve stated, the central bank is looking at a broad range of issues surrounding digital currencies and payments, including design, policy and legal considerations around potentially issuing its own digital currency. The development underscores an openness in the possibility of the Federal Reserve issuing its…

Vodafone Group PLC exits Facebook’s Libra crypto currency project

In a statement, Facebook’s Libra Association said, Britain’s Vodafone Group PLC has left its global digital currency initiative. In recent months, Facebook’s digital currency has seen an exodus of its backers midst increased regulatory scrutiny, including financial companies such as Mastercard Inc and Paypal Holdings Inc. In June 2019, Facebook had announced a plan to…

Due diligence on cryptocurrencies a must before they are widely adopted: EU Finance Ministers

Finance ministers from the European Union have agreed that private digital currencies including Facebook’s Libra should not be allowed in the European Union until potential risks surrounding them are clearly addressed. The move confirms the tough stance claimed by the EU on stablecurrencies such as Facebook’s Libra, which incidentally has attracted criticism from global regulators…

Australia probe foreign influence efforts through social media platforms

On Thursday, Australia started an investigation into the potential usage of foreign influence using social media platforms such as WeChat, Facebook, and Twitter. The development comes in the wake of heightened concerns in the country that China is seeking to cast its influence in Canberra’s affairs. In the past, Russia had used social media to…

European Commission scrutinizing how FB and Google monetizes data, leverages it to expand, block competitors

In a statement, the European Commission said, it is investigating how Facebook collects and monetizes its data. The development signals the opening of a second front, on top of an existing investigation, into Facebook’s marketplace. As part of preliminary investigations into both Facebook and Google, the EU executive said, it had sent out questionnaires to…