Last week, Facebook's (FB  ) chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg met to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services for questions surrounding his role in the developing cryptocurrency Libra. For the greater part of a day, Zuckerberg answered bipartisan inquiry into the company, the currency, Facebook's past privacy concerns, and reasons behind other stable companies leaving the venture.

Back in June, Facebook announced its plan to create a new digital currency project called Libra that would be run by a nonprofit association supported by the founding members. At the time of announcement, Libra had a small, but strong pool of backers, which included: Anchorage, Andreeseen Horowitz, Bison Trails, Booking (BKNG  ), Breakthrough Initiatives, Coinbase, Creative Destruction Lab, eBay (EBAY  ), Farfetch (FTCH  ), Iliad (EPA:ILD), Kiva Microfunds, Lyft (LYFT  ), MasterCard (MA  ), Mercado Pago (MELI  ), Mercy Corps, PayPal (PYPL  ), PayU, Ribbit Capital, Spotify (SPOT  ), Stripe, Thrive Capital, Uber (UBER  ), Union Square Ventures, Visa (V  ), Vodafone (VOD  ), Women's World Banking, and Xapo. The initial members behind the project were from various backgrounds including payment systems, technology, marketplaces, telecommunications, blockchain builders, venture capital firms, academic institutions, and nonprofit and multilateral organizations. The Libra Project had hoped to have "approximately 100 members" by the target launch in the first half of 2020.

The Libra Project is an idea to build a safe cryptocurrency that can be used efficiently around the world. This coin is considered a stablecoin, which is a digital currency that is backed by a reserve of real assets. What sets this type of cryptocurrency apart from other popular ones, like Bitcoin, is that the coin's value is set rather than negotiable. Libra states within its white paper that the coin is planned to be backed by the countries currency rate in which the transactions are taking place, meaning that the cryptocurrency would have an exchange rate based on the stable global currencies. For example, most current currencies are backed in gold, instead Libra will be backed by a collection of low-volatility assets, such as "bank deposits and short-term government securities in currencies from stable and reputable central banks"

The project had a humanitarian pitch, with the goal of the global currency being a way to establish financial services for the millions around the world without access to bank accounts.

At the same time as Libra's inception, Facebook announced a plan for a subsidiary named Calibra, which is a blockchain that would act as a digital wallet for the cryptocurrency Libra. The way a blockchain works in the simplest sense is that it's a digital chain of 'blocks' that stack on top each another, but these 'blocks' make up digital pieces of information. Blocks store information about transactions in the terms of the date, time, and dollar amount, as well the parties participating in the transaction. Blocks hold a unique code that distinguishes them from one another called hash codes. These are in place in order to keep the information accurate and individual. Blockchains allow information to be recorded and distributed, but not edited. The Calibra blockchain is meant to be an accurate cache of transaction information that is recorded globally with high security over private data. Calibra would let the user send Libra to "almost anyone with a smartphone, as easily and instantly as you might send a text message and at low to no cost."

It is through Calibra that Facebook would be privy to private transactional information from Libra users, which raised concerns due to the company's past grievances surrounding privacy.

Before a Libra Council was set to first meet with its governing body in Geneva, Switzerland earlier in October, major backers behind Libra departed from the project. This group included PayPal, Booking, Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, eBay, and Mercado Pago. It was questions surrounding the departure of notable and stable companies that took centerstage of the hearing for Zuckerberg last week. Many members of Congress were concerned over the stability of the project due to a quarter of backers leaving before it was even finalized.

Zuckerberg, who has a personal interest in cryptocurrencies, argued that Libra could help reduce income inequality by giving people -- including 14 million in the U.S. without access to bank accounts -- an easier, faster and cheaper way to send money around the world. At the same time, the project would secure America's international financial leadership, since Libra would be backed mostly by the U.S. dollar, especially if the cryptocurrency is allowed to launch prior to similar planned efforts in China.

But lawmakers pushed Facebook to clearly outline the business reasons for the project. Facebook envisions Libra as being incorporated into the company's various messaging apps, including WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. The company believes that the currency could help benefit its existing advertising business, or create an opportunity for new revenue streams. Zuckerberg stated that Libra will eventually help boost Facebook's ad prices, but he later said Libra is more than a business plan and that he's "certainly not doing this because [he is] trying to make more money."

Zuckerberg's main case to make the stablecoin is that he views the U.S.'s currency system as out-dated. The project is based outside the U.S. in Switzerland because Zuckerberg views that the U.S. is behind in innovation. "We can't sit here and assume that because America is today the leader that it will always get to be the leader if we don't innovate," Zuckerberg stated. He affirmed that if the U.S. does not lead cryptocurrency projects, China will leap ahead.

Congress was not convinced that the currency would lead America's dominance throughout the world, citing the need for the company to be based in Switzerland and need a global team of members. There were also concerns raised about the currency's need to be backed by multiple currencies beyond the U.S. dollar and how that would affect the coin's financial security. The coin's launch would require agreements from association members on how it will function and fit within global regulatory frameworks.

Zuckerberg stressed in his address that Facebook as a company is "committed to taking the time to get this right," meaning that he is acknowledging the mistake of the past and does not want to repeat them. He stated that Facebook's effort is to shift some of the responsibility away from the company, telling lawmakers: "I believe this is something that needs to get built, but I get that I'm not the ideal messenger right now. We've faced a lot of issues over the past few years, and I'm sure people wish it were anyone but Facebook that were helping to propose this. But there's a reason we care about this. And that's because Facebook is about putting power in people's hands."

Facebook, as a company and platform, has continued to receive criticism over the security of private user information, with usage dropping 26% since 2017 in the U.S. But that is only users on the main site, with Facebook overseeing other heavily used apps like Instagram and WhatsApp. With Facebook's large and continuous global influence, it seems it is only a matter of time before it has its hand on a cryptocurrency.