Democrats led by House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and backed by a coalition of watchdog groups are warning that Facebook must put its Libra digital currency on hold so lawmakers and regulators can consider whether it's a new threat to consumers and the global economy, Politico reported. This raises serious privacy, trading, national security and monetary policy concerns for not only Facebook's over 2 billion users, but also for investors, consumers and the broader global economy," the lawmakers told Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and other executives. Amid the public backlash, there are signs that Facebook's behind-the-scenes lobbying push is falling flat. Congressional aides said that the company seems unprepared for the attacks it is about to receive and that it's failing to address key questions in briefings ahead of hearings scheduled for July 16-17 in the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees. Facebook has yet to respond to questions that the Banking Committee sent to Zuckerberg in May regarding its then-unannounced digital currency plans and how it handles consumers' financial information.
