David Marcus, the head of Facebook Financial, believes that the social media company has earned the benefit of the doubt for the way it has developed engaged with the concerns of regulators and governments in the development of the Libra project.
Speaking in a panel discussion on the first day of Singapore Fintech Festival, Marcus was asked why the regulators should trust Facebook to roll out a global digital currency given its past record on the use of users' data.
"We're not asking for immediate trust, we're asking for the benefit of the doubt. We deserve it." Marcus says.
He cites how Facebook demonstrated its willingness to engage with regulators and governments from the outset of the Libra project.
"We could have built this completely internally and created a digital wallet to embed into WhatsApp or Messenger," he continues.
Marcus describes how Facebook instead chose to do "the hard thing" relinquishing control over the project to its partners.
The Libra Association was recently rebranded as Diem, in a bit to stress its independence ahead of seeking regulatory approval for a 2021 launch.
"We've become very good at renaming things this year," Marcus jokes.
Facebook's digital wallet provider also underwent a rebrand in May this year, changing its name from Calibra to Novi.
The Diem Association is prioritising technological and operational readiness ahead of launching early next year.
The Association has however stated that it will only proceed with regulatory approval, having applied for a payments systems licence from Swiss regulator Finma.