Economist John Vaz said Bitcoin (BTC) is facing fierce competition from Facebook’s controversial Libra project, according to Cointelegraph website.

Vaz said Bitcoin is facing scaling payment issues and was being used mainly as a tool for speculation. He added that Libra could rapidly grow as a major competitor despite its ongoing regulatory issues.

“Libra isn’t dead…They’re just navigating the regulatory nightmare,” he said.

However, the economist described the central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as a feeble “defensive posture” in response to the challenge presented by crypto assets to their control over money supply and credit.

“The biggest competition for Bitcoin comes from other cryptocurrencies,” Vaz said.

Libra’s issue interesting

Despite admitting that Facebook suffered from public skepticism problems, Vaz said the theoretical concept of Libra was “very interesting”. He stressed the importance of the current networks that tech giants may tap into.

The economist claimed that firms like Facebook might benefit from their growing customer base.

“They are targeting a market which is ready-made for them in the sense that people are already making transactions on Facebook, and Messenger, and WhatsApp, and Instagram — they own the lot. So they’ve got the message traffic, and those people are doing economic transactions already using fiat.”

Vas also expected Libra to initially target developing countries rather than developed economies, noting:

“They will entrench themselves there – where people are already heavily using the apps and they have a need for payments.”

Advisor: Libra going well technically

Libra has failed in regulations but the cryptocurrency is technically going well, especially after having passed tests, Al-Arabiya website earlier reported, citing Ayman Al-Banna, senior advisor at MAG Consulting.

Ueli Maurer, Switzerland’s President, also said Facebook’s Libra project has failed and should be amended before submitting it to regulators for approval.

Libra co-creator David Marcus said, “The potential regulatory issues could postpone the planned release date of June.”

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