Facebook have taken a bit of a hit as Mastercard, Visa, eBay and Stripe has pulled our of the Libra cryptocurrency project.
The Financial times first reported on the withdrawal of PayPal last week, but having all these big names dropping out is a huge blow for Mark Zuckerberg and his plans.
The project Libra first unveiled in June, has had a lot of turbulence along the way from regulators and politicians.
Despite this Zuckerberg is still fighting to bring the currency to the market, he will be speaking before the House Committee on Financial Services October 23rd.
Concerns raised so far have been particularly focused on the abuse of the currency to allow money laundering.
In fact all payment related firms involved in the Libra currency have now dropped out other than PayU which is a company from the Netherlands.
Facebook have now spoken “We appreciate their support for the goals and mission of the Libra project.
“Although the makeup of the Association members may grow and change over time, the design principle of Libra’s governance and technology, along with the open nature of this project ensures the Libra payment network will remain resilient.
“We look forward to the inaugural Libra Association Council meeting in just 3 days and announcing the initial members of the Libra Association.”
Like Zuckerberg, his team maintain a positive reaction to the news of the now departed payment related companies, David Marcus Facebooks Head of Calibra said, “I would caution against reading the fate of Libra into this update,”
As previous President of PayPal he does know a thing or two, and he went on to say,“Of course, it’s not great news in the short term, but in a way it’s liberating. Stay tuned for more very soon. Change of this magnitude is hard. You know you’re on to something when so much pressure builds up.”
Last week PayPal dropped out, however they have made clear that they have not lost hope in the project and are interested in being involved in the future if it kicks off.
