David Marcus is the executive leading Facebook's Libra and Calibra blockchain projects. Facebook

Facebook unveiled its plans for a cryptocurrency called Libra less than a month ago, but already faces obstacles from regulators and lawmakers in Washington, D.C. As a result, some tech executives are expressing doubt that the project will launch by 2020. "I think two years from now we're going to be like 'Do you remember that Facebook thing? Libra?'" said Bismarck Lepe, CEO of Wizeline, a San Francisco product development company.

'A political storm'

With so many legal obstacles so early on, many in the tech industry told CNBC they don't expect Facebook will be able to launch Libra and Calibra by the first half of 2020 as planned. "While the innovation in Libra certainly has potential, we should expect increased scrutiny not just from the federal government, but at the state level too, not to mention regulators in many markets outside the U.S.," said Anuj Nayar, financial health officer at online lending company LendingClub. To successfully launch Libra and Calibra, Facebook will have to overcome numerous financial regulations regarding anti-money laundering, money transfer, securities and data privacy, said Charley Moore, the CEO of Rocket Lawyer, a San Francisco company that provides online legal services. Facebook will also have to navigate all of these regulations as they differ from region to region, Nayar said. "In the U.S. alone, it can differ by city, by state and at the federal level," he said. "Given the breadth of Facebook's reach and the broad ambitions of the new Facebook coin, it's hard to predict which area will be most challenging for them." Besides the strict regulations that come with financial services, Facebook could face pushback based on the company's track record with matters of trust and user privacy, said Dimitri Sirota, CEO of BigID, a New York data privacy firm. "Facebook won't get far with Libra if consumers are worried about their financial data being compromised or misused, and regulators don't trust Facebook to keep that data secure," Sirota said.