The second episode of the new reality show “Libra goes to Washington” aired Wednesday, but there wasn’t much suspense: Facebook Inc.’s planned new cryptocurrency did not find a friendly audience.

David Marcus, the head of Facebook Inc.’s Calibra division testified before the House Financial Services Committee and got a similarly negative reception to his Senate hearing Tuesday. Facing up against Committee Chairwoman Rep. Maxine Waters, who was one of the first members of Congress to come out against Facebook plans in June, Marcus defended Libra once again, saying that it would fully comply with all legal requirements.

In an escalation of rhetoric, Congressman Brad Sherman did not even bother asking Marcus a question but instead compared Libra to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“We’re told by some that innovation is always good,” Sharman said. “The most innovative thing that happened this century was when Bin Laden came up with the innovative idea of flying two airplanes into towers.”

Pantomiming two planes crashing into the World Trade Center, Sherman added,”That’s the most consequential innovation, although this may do more to endanger America than even that.” Sherman, who claimed Libra should be called Zuck Bucks, went on to claim that terrorists love cryptocurrencies as well as “drug dealers, tax evaders and sanctions evaders.”

Surprisingly, Waters ended up sounding moderate by comparison, targeting Switzerland instead. “Facebook is apparently trying to create a new global financial system that is intended to rival the U.S. dollar,” she said. “This venture is slated to be based in Switzerland, which has a history as a monetary haven for criminals and shady corporations.”

New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez expressed concerns that the assets backing Libra that set its value would be determined by corporations. “So we are discussing a currency controlled by an undemocratically selected coalition of largely massive corporations,” she said.

The highlight of the day, of sorts, came after Marcus’ testimony when Republican Congressman Warren Davidson got straight to the point, asking Melmem Demirors of CoinShares whether Libra was a shitcoin. That’s is a pejorative term used to describe an altcoin that has become worthless.

"Shitcoin" is not profanity. It is a highly technical term in monetary economics.

I sincerely thank @WarrenDavidson for introducing such an important concept to the rest of the members of the US Congress. pic.twitter.com/0S7NVjn4AH

— Michael Goldstein (@bitstein) July 17, 2019

The 9/11 comparison aside, the negative reactions to Libra failed to shock cryptocurrency markets a second time around. Bitcoin, which plunged more than 13% on Tuesday, recovered some of its losses to trade at $9,71.41 as of 10:55 p.m. EDT, up 4.7% over the last 24 hours.

Photo: joergwunderlich/Pixabay