Facebook is having a tough time trying to launch Libra. They started off nicely with the likes of major industrial names like PayPal, Stripe, Visa, Master Card and eBay backing them, one could easily see how well positioned they were. But as Libra is being targeted by the regulators on various legal grounds, these founding members are backing out. Visa, Mastercard, eBay, stripe, and Mercado Pago have all retracted from the Libra Association as per report from the Financial Times.
The news comes a week after PayPal, one of the leading US payment processors, denounced its support for Libra. The company released a statement saying it has decided to forgo its participation in the Libra association at this time and would continue to focus on advancing their business priorities. Things went downhill after that as other major founding members also decided to quit. Libra is now left with no major US payment processor which a very serious issue for a project of this nature.
The first Libra council meeting is set for October 14th in Geneva. The meeting will provide a deeper insight into what the members involved are planning to do.
A spokesperson from Visa told The Verge:
“Visa has decided not to join the Libra Association at this time, we will continue to evaluate and our ultimate decision will be determined by a number of factors, including the Association’s ability to fully satisfy all requisite regulatory expectations.”
eBay release a statement saying:
“We highly respect the vision of the Libra Association, however, eBay has made the decision to not move forward as a founding member. At this time, we are focused on rolling out eBay’s managed payments experience for our customers.”
Similarly, Stripe said:
“Stripe is supportive of projects that aim to make online commerce more accessible for people around the world, Libra has this potential. We will follow its progress closely and remain open to working with the Libra Association at a later stage.”
Dante Disparte, Libra Association policy chief thanked the companies for their support so far saying:
“We are focused on moving forward and continuing to build a strong association of some of the world’s leading enterprises, social impact organizations and other stakeholders, We look forward to the inaugural Libra Association Council meeting in just 3 days and announcing the initial members of the Libra Association.”
Those who still remain members of the Libra Association are under pressure from the government and regulators, most of whom see Libra as a threat to the traditional financial system. Reports suggest that anyone involved with Facebook’s crypto venture could face significant regulatory consequences.
David Marcus, Libra chief, responded to this news with a tweet:
As The Daily Chain reported earlier this week, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse thinks that Libra may not even launch, and now it looks like things could pretty much go down as he had forecasted.
“I would bet that Libra…let’s say, by the end of 2022, I think Libra will not have launched.”
