Facebook says Libra won’t launch without US approval

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to tell Congress today that the company's planned Libra cryptocurrency won't launch unless all U.S. regulators approve.

In prepared remarks released ahead of a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, Zuckerberg says that Facebook won’t be part of launching the new digital currency anywhere in the world without U.S. government approval.

This is a stronger statement than Facebook official David Marcus made in July, when he said Facebook won’t offer Libra until it has "fully addressed regulatory concerns and received appropriate approvals." Marcus leads the Libra project at Facebook.

Zuckerberg is trying to defend Libra and alleviate concerns that the currency could sidestep financial regulators.

Libra has seen several defections among other companies that originally supported it, including Visa and MasterCard.