BERLIN, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Facebook's plannedcryptocurrency Libra will be backed by a basket of currenciesincluding the U.S. dollar, euro, yen, sterling and Singaporedollar, but excluding China's yuan, Der Spiegel reported,referring to a letter from Facebook.
The exclusion of China's currency could help smooth theplanned digital currency's path in the United States, whereofficials have raised concerns about the yuan's growing statureas a reserve currency at a time when trade relations between thetwo economic powers are tense.
In a letter responding to a question from German legislatorFabio De Masi, Facebook said the dollar would make up 50% of thebasket, followed by the euro with 18%, the yen with 14%, theBritish pound with 11% and the Singapore dollar with 7%,according to German news magazine Der Spiegel.
Calls by Reuters to De Masi, the legislator who received theletter, were not immediately returned.
The Swiss-based Libra Association, the non-profitorganisation comprising Facebook and 27 other members that plansto launch and oversee the currency, did not immediately respondto a request for comment.
Facebook's planned Libra is the most well-known of thestablecoins, cryptocurrencies backed by assets such astraditional money deposits, short-term government securities orgold. They have the potential to be less volatile and more of amainstream asset than existing cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
Regulators around the world have reacted with extremewariness to the proposal, with central bankers warning theycould have a destabilising effect on the global financialsystem.(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Additional reporting by BrennaHughes Neghaiwi in Zurich; Editing by Pravin Char)