Bad news for Mark Zuckerberg's ambitious plan: Mastercard, Visa, Stripe and eBay are pulling out of Facebook's Libra payments network, according to reports, putting Facebook's entry into the cryptocurrency market in immediate jeopardy.
The news comes just days after PayPal was removed from the Project, and will be followed by several months of scrutiny from global regulators.
Facebook announced the Libra project in June 2019, explaining that it plans to launch a digital currency in 2020.
The digital currency could be integrated into Facebook's services to provide the necessary means for all e-commerce transactions on the social network platform and beyond.
At the time, Facebook proudly announced that there were many major industry companies supporting the project, and they formed the Geneva-based Libra Association, a consortium that would oversee the cryptocurrency and its development.
The original members of the consortium included Uber, Lyft, Spotify, Vodafone, Mercado Pago, PayU and others.
But slowly, the companies supporting the ambitious project began to withdraw. Of course, all those who left the consortium tried to leave the door open (perhaps to return if they saw that the idea was being enthusiastically adopted).
"Visa has decided not to participate in the Libra Association at this time," a Visa spokesperson told ZDNet.
Visa's continued interest in Libra stems from our belief that blockchain-based networks could be scaled for secure digital transactions to a greater number of people and places, particularly in emerging and developing markets.
A Stripe spokesperson told ZDNet:
Stripe supports projects that aim to make online commerce more accessible to people around the world, and Libra has this potential, we will closely monitor its progress and remain open to collaborating with the Libra Association at a later stage.
While eBay stated:
We respect the vision of the Libra Association. However, eBay has decided not to move forward as a founding member.
Mastercard has not yet made any statement.
Here we should mention that after the announcement of the Libra project by Facebook, there were many reactions:
- Facebook Libra stopped by US lawmakers
- Facebook Libra: Three questions for Facebook
- Facebook Libra: order to stop the project
- Facebook Libra: France doesn't want it in Europe
- PayPal withdraws from Facebook Libra Association
