France to Block Libra and North Korea to Hold Second Blockchain Conference

France will block Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency in Europe

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Thursday that Facebook’s Libra will be blocked in Europe because the digital currency poses too much risk and threatens sovereignty.

When talking about Libra project at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, Le Maire said at that this cryptocurrency would raise serious concerns about market dominance and undermine the “monetary sovereignty” of governments, whilst having considerable financial risks.

“All these concerns about Libra are serious. So I want to be very clear: in these conditions we cannot authorize Libra’s development on European soil,” the French Finance Minister said.

Le Maire urged governments to work on proposals for a “public digital currency,” starting as soon as the International Monetary Fund meetings in October. He noted he has already discussed the idea with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and his successor Christine Lagarde.

“I want us to have concrete projects available in the next few months,” the French Finance Minister said.

North Korea to hold second blockchain and crypto conference

North Korea will be holding its second blockchain and cryptocurrency conference in February 2020.

The previous conference took place in April 2019 and attracted 100 people. The event was declared a success by the North Koreans, and a larger second conference with more participants was promised.

The 2020 event is being sponsored by the Spanish Korean Friendship Association and organized by the North Korea’s Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. The event will be followed by private business meetings with interested stakeholders.

The price for the tickets for the conference will be a whopping 3,400 euros. Citizens of South Korea, Israel and Japan will not be allowed to participate in the 2020 conference. On top of that, journalists and the media will be forbidden to attend the event “to preserve the confidentiality of the participants, foreign and local companies involved.”

On the other hand, the U.S. citizens are welcome, as it was the case with the previous conference.

Such conferences are also an attempt for North Korea to boost tourism as an extended travel itinerary for the event is provided.