Report: Facebook Seeks BitLicense From New York State Regulator

Social media giant Facebook has applied for a cryptocurrency business license to use its announced virtual currency Libra in New York, according to a report by Reuters on June 28.

New York requires a special license for crypto operations called the BitLicense, which is a product of the state's finance regulator, the New York State Department of Financial Services.

According to the report, Facebook has also been in contact with regulators in England and Switzerland, presumably to discuss the terms of Libra compliance.

The scope of regulatory compliance for Facebook's aims may include thousands of different standards to meet.

"They will not get a free pass anywhere... And, given their intention to be global, they will ultimately need literally hundreds, perhaps thousands, of licenses from hundreds of different regulators across the globe."

As per the report, Libra has been met with some alarm by United States lawmakers, due to its history of user privacy violations and sheer size.

As reported by Cointelegraph, Facebook representatives are scheduled to testify on Libra before Congress on July 16 and 17.

"Given the company's troubled past, I am requesting that Facebook agree to a moratorium on any movement forward on developing a cryptocurrency until Congress and regulators have the opportunity to examine these issues and take action."