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First it was a group of influential banks, then it was the EU regulator, now, Visa, Mastercard and other key financial partners are reconsidering their involvement in Libra Coin, Facebook’s cryptocurrency.
Visa, Mastercard reconsidering Libra coin involvement
The financial backers to Libra did not want to attract regulatory scrutiny and declined Facebook’s requests to publicly support the project, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Policy executives from Libra Association, the cryptocurrency’s two dozen backers, have been summoned to a meeting in Washington, DC. Separately, Bloomberg reported that PayPal and Stripe are also undecided about formally signing onto Libra.
Reuters reported last week that Facebook could push back the launch of Libra to tackle regulatory concerns that have been raised around the world.
Facebook announced plans to launch the digital currency in June 2020, in partnership with other members of the Libra Association set up by the US tech giant to manage the project.
However the attempt to drag cryptocurrencies into the mainstream has since met with regulatory and political skepticism globally, with France and Germany pledging to block Libra from operating in Europe.
It is unclear how many of the initial Libra Association members ultimately will commit to the network. So far, association members have signed nonbinding letters of intent, and they haven’t yet handed over the $10 million that Facebook requested from each member to fund the creation of the digital coin and build out the payments network, people familiar with the matter said.
“It’s important to understand the facts here and not any of us get out ahead of ourselves,” Visa Chief Executive Al Kelly said on the company’s earnings conference call in July. “No one has yet officially joined.”
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