Libra’s Head of Policy and Communications praises the ex-chair of the CFTC for working on digitizing the US dollar.
January 20, Zurich — Less than a year after Libra’s announcement, which sparked a heated global conversation on the possibility of a non-central bank issued national digital currency, the association may finally be seeing some light at the end of the regulatory tunnel.
Indeed, Dante Disparte, the current head of Policy and Communications at Libra, took the opportunity to inform its audience at the Worldwebforum that in the same 24 hours, the former Commodity Futures Exchange Commission (CFTC) Chair, Christopher Giancarlo, had announced the formation of a nonprofit to promote the idea of digitizing the U.S. dollar. The Libra executive could not have wished for better timing to present the association’s 2020 go-to-market strategy. The announcement came as much-needed validation regarding the future of digital currencies, and indeed, of Libra itself.
In a stark contradiction to Facebook’s infamous motto “move fast and break things”, Dante Disparte, albeit not making the comparison explicit, asserted he would “rather get this right, than do this fast” referring specifically to the push-back that the association and Facebook itself had gotten over the past year. When asked if the announcement of what is effectively going to be competitors to Libra, worried him; “if you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together” Dante quipped. Not only is it encouraging that more entities are jumping on board the digital national currencies approach, it is also essential to their ultimate goal of providing virtually costless and easy-to-use payment methods to the 1.7 billion people across the world that still do not have access to a bank account.
The speaker provocatively compared the current international banking system to an email system where your gmail account would not be able to communicate with a yahoo account, and if it could you would have to wait days to read your email. To avoid such friction and lack of interoperability, not only would more entities need to engage and collaborate, but indeed the world should actively aim to “build digital commons.”
About Worldwebforum
Over the past seven years, Worldwebforum in Zurich has developed into a meeting place for decision-makers who create sustainable value in entrepreneurially managed companies.
Thanks to close relationships with leaders in Silicon Valley, China, Europe and top academics globally, Worldwebforum brings together the most progressive minds with the aim of empowering radical change in the world. The annual meeting in Zurich convenes influential speakers such as Steve Wozniak, Cofounder of Apple, Jay Simons, President of Atlassian, Tim Berners-Lee, Inventor of the World Wide Web, Ed Catmull, Founder of Pixar, Marian Goodell, CEO of Burning Man, David Sable, Global CEO of Young & Rubicam and Bill Wyman, Co-Founder and Former Bassist of The Rolling Stones. In 2020, Lars Ulrich, Co-founder and Drummer for Metallica; Roger Hallam , co-founder Extinction Rebellion; Brittany Kaiser , Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower and Sepp Blatter , former FIFA President will join the list of acclaimed headlining speakers.
Facts & Figures:
- 1,500 attendees
- 75% executives
- 570’000 live-stream viewers
For further media enquiries, imagery and logos contact:
Justine Violante
Chief Marketing Officer
justine.violante@worldwebforum.com
Phone +41 (0)76 512 32 88
Blog: www.worldwebforum.ch/blog
Social Media: #worldwebforum
Twitter & Instagram: @worldwebforum