France to create G7 stablecoin taskforce following Libra's announcement

France, which holds the Group of Seven (G7) presidency, will create the group taskforce on “stablecoin” projects, according to a report from Reuters on Friday. The news was announced by France’s central bank governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau. The taskforce will reportedly be headed by European Central Bank board member Benoit Coeure, and will also include Facebook’s planned cryptocurrency project, Libra. 

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Facebook unveiled its Libra project earlier this week, intending to bank the unbanked and facilitate low-fee money transfers globally. France’s finance minister Bruno Le Maire said at the time that Libra “can’t and…must not happen” and that “it is out of question’’ for the cryptocurrency to “become a sovereign currency.”

He also reportedly called on the G-7 central bank governors and guardians of the global monetary system to review the social media giant’s cryptocurrency project and submit a report next month.

The Libra project is expected to go live sometime next year, but it has already faced scrutiny from central banks and politicians around the world. For instance, Markus Ferber, a German member of the European Parliament, warned that Facebook could become a “shadow bank” and said regulators should be vigilant.

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Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.