Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey says 'hell no' to joining Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency program

At a Twitter media event in New York City, CEO Jack Dorsey was asked if he would join Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra, and his exact response was “Hell, no!”. Dorsey said that the Libra initiative did not have to be a cryptocurrency if the idea behind it was to democratise the financial system. “I don’t know if it’s a gimmick but a cryptocurrency wasn’t necessary to make that work,” said Dorsey according to a report by The Verge. Dorsey believes that Libra isn’t exactly an internet open standard that was born on the internet, but the idea for the cryptocurrency came from the company and its intention “is not consistent with what I personally believe and what I want our company to stand for.” [caption id=“attachment_6066621” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”]  Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. image: Reuters[/caption] Having said that, Dorsey also said that he was looking forward to more decentralised cryptocurrencies. He said that the internet is similar to an emerging nation-state and cryptocurrency and bitcoin is its currency. (Also read: F acebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before congress, admits Libra is a 'risky project' ) Last week, despite several high-profile defections from the project and **intense criticism** from US regulators and politicians, Facebook officially moved forward with its plans to create a **new digital currency called Libra** . The Libra Association, the nonprofit that will govern the currency, officially signed on 21 charter members on Monday at the organization’s inaugural meeting in Geneva. Originally the Libra Association had 27 potential members, but several companies dropped out in recent days, including  **Visa, Mastercard**   **and PayPal** . Most of the remaining members of the Libra Association consist of venture capital firms, who often have an eye on emerging technologies and align with Facebook’s interests, as well as nonprofits. But some larger companies who are now members of the association include Uber, Lyft, Spotify and European telecommunications company Vodafone. (Also read:  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says Libra must be encouraged, China already working on similar ideas ) Meanwhile, US senators sent letters to several financial firms noting that they could face “a high level of scrutiny from regulators” if they participated in the new currency plan. French economy and finance minister Bruno Le Maire has warned that under current circumstances, Libra posed a threat to the “monetary sovereignty” of governments and could not be authorised in Europe. Facebook executives have, however, claimed the  **new digital coin could help lower costs for global money transfers**  and help those without access to the banking system. Zuckerberg  **reiterated the same** at his recent testimony in front of the US Congress. During the testimony, the Facebook CEO also conceded that **many investors backed off from the project**  because Libra is a “risky project” and that he was not sure it would even work.