France will block Libra cryptocurrency in Europe, as it threatens the monetary sovereignty of governments, Euronews reported.
Bruno Le Maire made the comments at an OECD conference on Thursday, adding that such a block would protect "monetary sovereignty”.
He said: "I want to be absolutely clear: In these conditions, we cannot authorise the development of Libra on European soil."
In June, Facebook announced plans to launch the Libra cryptocurrency. It is expected to be launched next year. Libra is designed to support a basket of currency assets in order to avoid the wild fluctuations that are observed with bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies.
Another significant difference is that control over it will not be decentralized, but will be vested in the Swiss non-profit association. In addition to Facebook, Libra sponsors include payment giants Visa, MasterCard, and PayPal, as well as Lyft and Uber applications.
French officials have warned of the danger Libra poses from the moment it was announced.
Speaking to Financial News, the Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee chairman, MP Damian Collins said the new currency made him think Facebook was "almost trying to turn itself into its own country”.
He added: "It’s a global organisation that doesn’t have physical boundaries but basically has a global community who are solely under the oversight of Mark Zuckerberg."
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But officials expressed concern about how the currency will be regulated, in particular, how it will comply with the rules against money laundering and terrorist financing.
