NORTH CAROLINA -- Facebook is planning on getting into the cryptocurrency market with “Libra.” However, several lawmakers on Capitol Hill want to learn more first.

• Next month, a House committee will hold a hearing to take a closer look at the proposal.
• North Carolina Congressman Patrick McHenry was among those pushing for the hearing.
• The Senate Banking committee will be holding its own hearing July 16.

Next month, a House committee will hold a hearing to take a closer look at the proposal.

North Carolina Congressman Patrick McHenry, the top-ranking Republican on the powerful House Financial Services Committee, was among those pushing for the hearing.

“There is so little that is understood about what Facebook and its consortium are attempting to do,” he said in an interview.

In a letter to the chairwoman of the committee, McHenry noted the potential benefits of Libra, including the ability to reach people across the globe that may not have access to banking. At the same time, he raised questions about consumer privacy - given the currency’s connection to Facebook.

“They know more about their users than any other company on the globe -- and so they have this mass amount of consumer data on most of us,” he said.

The committee chairwoman, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., also raised concerns, calling for a pause in the development of the cryptocurrency until Congress and regulators had a chance to examine the proposal.

Libra, which was formally announced last week, is set to roll out as early as next year. A non-profit separate from Facebook called the Libra Association will reportedly oversee it, according to the project's white paper.

Already, questions are mounting about the proposal: How they will ensure security? How they will prevent money laundering? How they will protect consumers?

“What are we going to do to ensure that Facebook actually invests customer money in safe assets as opposed to super risky ones? What are we going to do to avoid that Facebook manipulates the market of these assets or currencies?” said Claudia Biancotti, a visiting fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, who researches the regulation of technology companies.

So, what comes next?

Biancotti says Libra will likely require regulation - but it remains unclear what that will look like or who will take the leading role.

“Facebook is somewhat suspicious, but even if it was a company with a better track record, you just don’t leave corporations to self-regulate something that is going to impact interest rates,” she said.

Asked about potential regulation, McHenry stressed the need to be “rational.”

“Even in totalitarian states, cryptocurrency is flourishing,” he said. “What we need is a rational regulatory regime so it can take hold.”

That hearing before the House Financial Services Committee is scheduled for July 17. The Senate Banking committee will be holding its own hearing the day before.