Facebook’s Zuckerberg Appears to Put Libra Launch Date in Doubt

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has refused to commit to the planned 2020 launch for the Libra cryptocurrency project.

Talking in interview with Nikkei on Thursday, Zuckerberg was asked about the expected date of the stablecoin’s arrival, to which he replied:

“Obviously we want to move forward at some point soon [and] not have this take many years to roll out,” he said. “But right now I’m really focused on making sure that we do this well.”

Since the launch of Libra’s white paper in June, regulators worldwide have been strident in their objections to the project, saying it poses not only a risk to financial stability and could be used in financial crimes, but it’s also a threat to sovereign currencies. Notably, lawmakers in the U.S. and France have called for the project to be halted.

The Libra project had appeared to have been sticking to its guns on the 2020 target, with Libra Association managing director and COO Bertrand Perez saying in mid…