Facebook的全球加密货币计划难推行

Facebook is in a poor position to promote its plans to launch a global cryptocurrency, Mark Zuckerberg has admitted, in candid testimony released before a key congressional hearing on Wednesday.

书面证词显示，马克•扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)将在周三举行的关键的国会听证会上坦承，Facebook在推进其全球加密货币计划方面处于不利地位。

The Facebook chief executive said in the prepared remarks that his company was keen to hand over leadership of the project to an association of its partners, given the range of political controversies that continue to dog his company.

Facebook首席执行官在事先准备好的书面证词中表示，鉴于持续困扰其公司的各种政治争议，Facebook希望将该项目的领导权移交给由其合作伙伴组成的一家协会。

He added: “I’m sure people wish it was anyone but Facebook putting this idea forward.”

他补充道：“我敢肯定，人们希望由别人推进这个创意，而不是Facebook。”

Mr Zuckerberg will testify to Congress about Project Libra on Wednesday for the first time since it was announced. The hearing in front of the House financial services committee, the chief executive’s first time on Capitol Hill since he faced fierce questioning from politicians in April 2018 over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, is likely to prove a key test of whether the troubled project is able to win enough support in Washington to allow it to proceed.

扎克伯格将于周三就Libra项目向国会作证，这是自该项目宣布以来的首次国会听证会。出席由众议院金融服务委员会(House Financial Services Committee)举行的听证会，是这位首席执行官自2018年4月因剑桥分析公司(Cambridge Analytica)丑闻而面对政客们的激烈质问以来首次现身国会山。对于这一陷入困境的项目能否在华盛顿赢得足够支持以便推进，这很可能是一个关键考验。

Facebook has said it will not go ahead with the scheme until it secures the necessary regulatory approvals in both Europe and the US. Since it was announced, the plans have been criticised by regulators and politicians around the world. Officials have expressed concern that the currency could be used by criminals to launder money, put customers’ privacy at risk and even undermine the global dominance of the dollar.

Facebook已表示，在欧洲和美国获得必要的监管批准之前，它不会推进该计划。该计划自宣布以来一直受到全球监管机构和政界人士的批评。官员们表达了顾虑，即这种货币可能被犯罪分子用来洗钱、危及客户隐私、甚至削弱美元在全球的主导地位。

Mr Zuckerberg tackled several of those criticisms in his statement, promising that Facebook’s digital wallet would never share customers’ financial information with the rest of the company without their permission or unless obliged by law.

扎克伯格在其书面声明中回应了其中一些批评，承诺在未经客户允许的情况下，Facebook的数字钱包绝不会与公司其他部门分享客户的财务信息——除非依法被迫这么做。

He also said the company would work with the Federal Reserve to make sure the cryptocurrency “cannot interfere with monetary policy”.

他还表示，该公司将与美联储(Federal Reserve)合作，确保该加密货币“不会干扰货币政策”。

He also mounted a robust defence of the concept, saying it would help bring payments services to the 1bn people across the world who do not have access to bank accounts.

他还为这一概念作了有力辩护，表示它将帮助为全球10亿目前没有银行账户的人们提供支付服务。

He said: “People pay far too high a cost — and have to wait far too long — to send money home to their families abroad. The current system is failing them. The financial industry is stagnant and there is no digital financial architecture to support the innovation we need.”

他表示：“目前人们支付过高的价格——而且要等太久——才能把钱汇给老家的家人。现有系统对不起他们。金融业停滞不前，没有数字金融架构来支持我们所需的创新。”