Monex Group Interested in Joining Facebook’s Libra Consortium

Oki Matsumoto, President of Monex Group, a Japan-based financial services company backing the Coincheck cryptocurrency exchange, is interested in participating in Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency project and has submitted an application to that effect, according to a Reuters Japan report on July 26, 2019.

Monex Group’s Application to Join Libra Project

Per the report, Monex Group, a highly reputed Japanese financial services company is the latest firm that has shown interest in joining the Libra Consortium.

At a time when it appears the entire world is against Facebook and its Libra cryptocurrency, Oki Matsumoto the President of Monex Group has submitted an application that could possibly see the company become a part of the heavyweights backing the Libra stablecoin project.

Reportedly, Monex Group’s president will announce the company’s application submission in a closed meeting on July 26, 2019, in order to brief stakeholders of its plan to join Facebook and 28 other companies that are members of the Libra Association.

If all goes as planned, Libra Association, the non-profit organization overseeing Libra will review Monex Group’s application around September 2019 or earlier.

Libra Transforming the Internet of Money

Matsumoto while making comments said Libra offers several possibilities and that includes its potential for financial inclusion and cross-border product sales which will be accessible to people who find it difficult to obtain loans due to poverty.

Since the organizers of  Libra released the Libra whitepaper earlier in June, the cryptoasset has attracted both criticisms and praises from regulators around the world as well as reputable members of the cryptoverse.

Notably, Steve Mnuchin, the secretary for the United States Treasury recently expressed his concerns over Project Libra and drafted a bill along with other bureaucrats to prevent large tech companies from venturing into the financial services sector.

Similarly, Damian Collins, British Member of Parliament relayed his data privacy concerns about Libra and opined that the stablecoin has granted Facebook too much power which brings a need for the social media company to be probed.

Interestingly, a research report published by CivicScience has also revealed that majority of Americans do not trust Libra and thus, have a low-level interest in the digital currency which can be attributed to Facebook’s data privacy scandals in the past.

It’s also worth noting that U.S. President Donald Trump is not a friend to Libra and he has made his stance known.

President Trump said:

“If Facebook and other firms want to offer banking services, they must seek a new Banking Charter and become subject to all Banking Regulations.”

On July 19, 2019, BTCManager informed that Veerathai Santiprabhob, Bank of Thailand’s (BOT) Governor had stated that the merits and risks of Libra need to be studied extensively.