Maxine Waters presses Meta on crypto exchange plans

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) sent a letter to Meta executives Monday expressing her concerns with recent filings related to digital assets services.

In a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Javier Olivan, Waters said she was concerned about the “filing status of five trademark applications related to various digital assets services and blockchain technology” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Waters, who is the ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee, said that according to the filings, Meta is appearing to show “a continued intention” of expanding its role in the digital assets market.

“Despite these trademark applications, which indicate there are specific goods and services connected with digital asset work that Meta is doing, Meta staff asserted on October 12, 2023, in communications with Democratic Financial Services Committee (Committee) staff that there is no ongoing digital assets work at Meta,” she said.

Waters is demanding answers on whether Meta is pursuing crypto exchange plans and how it may be implemented into its other platforms.

In 2019, Facebook unveiled a plan to develop a cryptocurrency-based payments platform called Libra. A group of House Democrats called for Facebook to halt its project at the time due to concerns they had with the platform’s security and the data of the users.

Facebook later halted the plans after Zuckerberg testified on the cryptocurrency plan in 2019, according to Water’s press release.

The Hill has reached out to Meta for comment.