Facebook’s Libra project may be heading into obscurity before it’s even had a chance to take off. More than a week after PayPal pulled its support for the cryptocurrency, Mastercard, Visa, eBay, and Stripe have reportedly pulled out too, making them the latest backers to distance themselves from the digital currency.
Both Visa and Mastercard made it clear that, while they are pulling out the Libra Association, they say that they are willing to return and work with Facebook and its cryptocurrency in the future. Visa, in particular, said that it will continue to evaluate the situation, as well as the regulating body’s ability to “fully satisfy all requisite regulatory expectations”.
In eBay’s case, the online auction site says that it was shifting its focus on rolling out its managed payment experience for its customers.
Libra’s existence was made official back in June this year, with plans for the cryptocurrency to go live in the year 2020. With so many of its major backers already getting cold feet, though, it’s now unclear if Facebook is still planning of following through with its plan.
It’s not been all smooth sailing for the social network’s cryptocurrency prior to this either. In the US, the country’s lawmakers have cited security and data privacy concerns over Libra, demanding any further development of it to be put on hold. Additionally, the digital currency has already been banned in France and Germany.
(Source: ZDNet, Hot Hardware)
