Thursday, June 5, 2025
No Result
View All Result
CONTACT
First Crypto News
  • News
  • Bitcoin
  • Ethereum
  • Industry
  • Market Updates
  • Price
  • Coins
  • Press Release
  • News
  • Bitcoin
  • Ethereum
  • Industry
  • Market Updates
  • Price
  • Coins
  • Press Release
No Result
View All Result
First Crypto News
No Result
View All Result

Facebook’s Crypto Project Is Falling Apart; eBay, MasterCard, Stripe, And Visa Bail On Libra Association

by firstcryptonews
October 15, 2019
in News
Facebook’s Crypto Project Is Falling Apart; eBay, MasterCard, Stripe, And Visa Bail On Libra Association

It was a rough Friday for Facebook. Just days after PayPal said it was backing off from the project, more backers came out to say that they were pulling out of Facebook’s Libra. Yesterday, MasterCard, Visa, Mercado Pago, eBay, and Stripe announced that they were dropping from Facebook’s crypto project, Libra. That implied that all the behemoth US-based payment processors had distanced themselves from the Libra association.

This now makes six of the original 28 founding members pulling out, threatening to hamper an ambitious project by Facebook to remodel global finance even before it hits the ground running. In essence, it’s a huge setback for Libra cryptocurrency, to say the least.

A Big Blow To Facebook’s Libra Project
On Oct 11, Bloomberg reported on MasterCard, Visa, Mercado Pago, Stripe and eBay’s exodus from the Libra association. With this, the Libra Association now has only one payment partner, PayU, which is owned by Naspers Group (headquartered in South Africa).

As per the official statement, eBay noted that it “respects the vision of the Libra Association”, adding:

“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”.

Although it initially refuted claims saying it had intentions of departing from the Libra Association, yesterday, a Stripe spokesperson said in a statement:

“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.”

Notably, none of these five companies have rejected the possibility of working with the Libra Association in the future. However, for now, they are distancing themselves from the Libra association and the unwelcome scrutiny that comes with it.

In response to this exit, Libra Association Policy Chief Dante Disparte, remained positive, saying the company is looking forward to announcing the official members of the Libra association moving forward:

“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.”

In a tweet, the head of Calibra David Marcus thanked Visa and MasterCard for enduring until “the 11th hour”, speaking of the regulatory heat that made them exit.

Why Did Five Major Backers Ditch Libra In Quick Succession?
Since Facebook announced its Libra project in June, regulators have focused on this project, suggesting that Facebook should be regulated in the same fashion that big banks are regulated. Some time last month, German and France stated that they would block the development of Libra in their countries. With this intensified regulatory pressure on Libra, it doesn’t come as a surprise that these companies have decided to exit Libra. Be that as it may, the timing could not be more perfect.

On October 14, the Libra Council is to have its first official meeting in Geneva to discuss the future of the Libra project. In this meeting, the founding members have plans for formalizing their participation in the Libra project and also addressing governance questions. The private governance meeting will culminate in the members signing formal charters. With this process, the new members will each have a specific role to play in the Libra Association. Therefore, for any company getting cold feet, now was the ideal time to leave before the charters were finally signed.

It’s additionally worth calling attention to the fact that US senators, Brian Schatz (D – Hawaii) and Sherrod Brown (D – Ohio) sent a similar letter to the CEOs of MasterCard, Visa, and Stripe, asking them to reconsider their support for Libra project. In the letter, the Senators warned that if these payment companies decided to proceed with being part of the Libra association, they should “expect a high level of scrutiny from regulators not only on Libra-related activities but on all payment activities.”

The three companies chose departure.

For Facebook, It’s Business As Usual
Even though it has lost major backers, Facebook is clearly not ready to give up yet. The company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on October 23. Zuckerberg will testify before Congress in a hearing entitled, “An Examination of Facebook and Its Impact on the Financial Services and Housing Sectors.”

Last month, the Facebook founder met US President Donald Trump in the White House and also had private meetings with some US lawmakers at Capitol Hill, in a bid to address lawmakers’ concerns about its crypto project. Yet, this upcoming hearing will be his first appearance before Congress since last year April.

Moving forward, big players like Spotify, Anchorage, Uber, and Lyft are still members of the Libra Association. Also, venture capital companies like Union Square Ventures and Andreessen continue to be involved, in addition to the crypto exchange platform Coinbase.

However, with these major companies departing from Libra Association, it will be an uphill task to convince the world that Facebook does not have huge control over Libra if it eventually sees the light of day.

Related Posts

Colle AI Drives Platform Expansion Through Targeted Developer Optimization Features

Colle AI Drives Platform Expansion Through Targeted Developer Optimization Features

by firstcryptonews
June 3, 2025
0

New upgrades streamline the development process, enhancing NFT deployment and tooling efficiency across chains Singapore, SG – June 03, 2025...

Atua AI Boosts Enterprise Readiness Through Enhanced Automation Pipelines

Atua AI Boosts Enterprise Readiness Through Enhanced Automation Pipelines

by firstcryptonews
June 3, 2025
0

Upgraded Pipeline Architecture Empowers Web3 Businesses With Smarter, Scalable AI-Driven Operations Singapore, SG – June 03, 2025 – Atua AI...

AGII Powers Predictive Logic Engines to Strengthen Blockchain Automation Accuracy

AGII Powers Predictive Logic Engines to Strengthen Blockchain Automation Accuracy

by firstcryptonews
June 2, 2025
0

The platform reinforces decentralized execution with real-time, intelligent contract logic for enhanced precision. Seattle, WA – June 02, 2025 –...

Atua AI Updates Workflow Logic to Support Expanding Business Demands

Atua AI Updates Workflow Logic to Support Expanding Business Demands

by firstcryptonews
May 16, 2025
0

Smarter Task Sequencing and Adaptive Automation Empower Scalable AI Deployment for Web3 Enterprises Singapore, SG – May 16, 2025 –...

Atua AI Improves Grok Integration for Real-Time Cryptocurrency Optimization

Atua AI Improves Grok Integration for Real-Time Cryptocurrency Optimization

by firstcryptonews
May 14, 2025
0

Enhanced AI Capabilities Deliver Faster Analysis, Smarter Automation, and Dynamic Financial Intelligence Across Web3 Singapore, SG – May 14, 2025...

Atua AI Leverages DeepSeek R1 to Advance Intelligent Multichain Systems

Atua AI Leverages DeepSeek R1 to Advance Intelligent Multichain Systems

by firstcryptonews
May 13, 2025
0

Next-Gen Language Model Integration Enables Smarter, Scalable Workflows Across Web3 Networks Singapore, SG – May 13, 2025 – Atua AI...

Next Post
Telegram’s Gram, Facebook’s Libra, And The Race For The Stablecoin Market

Telegram’s Gram, Facebook’s Libra, And The Race For The Stablecoin Market

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Balder Exchange launches its NFT collection with a revolutionary proposal

Balder Exchange launches its NFT collection with a revolutionary proposal

3 years ago
ITs CORN (ICN): A rapid, reliable, and entertaining cryptocurrency tailored for an energetic community

ITs CORN (ICN): A rapid, reliable, and entertaining cryptocurrency tailored for an energetic community

2 years ago
Feeless Trade Exchange

Feeless Trade: The Fairest and Most Community Dedicated Exchange Service

4 years ago
NoBrainZ ($ZIZI): The Meme Coin Revolution with Real Utility and AI-Powered Trading Tools

NoBrainZ ($ZIZI): The Meme Coin Revolution with Real Utility and AI-Powered Trading Tools

3 weeks ago
GenBox AI Presale Live: Revolutionizing Game Development with NLP and AI

GenBox AI Presale Live: Revolutionizing Game Development with NLP and AI

1 year ago
On-Chain AI Platform Atua AI (TUA) Builds AI Governance Framework for Ethical and Transparent Automation

On-Chain AI Platform Atua AI (TUA) Builds AI Governance Framework for Ethical and Transparent Automation

3 months ago

First Crypto News

First Crypto News

First Crypto News is the Fastest Crypto News Portal. We Bring the Best and We Bring it Fast.

Bitcoin

Amid Chinese Crackdown, America’s Foundry USA Mining Pool Enters Top Ten Spot

Amid Chinese Crackdown, America’s Foundry USA Mining Pool Enters Top Ten Spot

June 21, 2021

Recent News

Colle AI Drives Platform Expansion Through Targeted Developer Optimization Features

Colle AI Drives Platform Expansion Through Targeted Developer Optimization Features

June 3, 2025

Press Release

In2space Launches Campaign to Make Space Travel Accessible for All

In2space Launches Campaign to Make Space Travel Accessible for All

June 5, 2025

© 2020 First Crypto News

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World
  • Science
  • Tech

© 2020 First Crypto News