MENLO PARK, Calif.–Facebook’s planned cryptocurrency initiative, Libra, is seeking an exodus of key partners. After PayPal became the first to announce it would not participate, among those that have now followed have been Stripe, Mastercard, Visa and eBay.
None of the companies offered specific reasons for no longer participating, and none ruled out participating in the future. Mastercard said it has been investing in its own cryptocurrency initiative, while Visa said it might participate in the future depending on Libra’s “ability to fully satisfy all requisite regulatory expectations.”
Simon Taylor, a co-founder of 11:FS, a consulting firm that advises companies on blockchain adoption, told the New York Times Facebook’s difficulties “show just how important it is to have a clear position with regulators before launching at scale.”
“Getting to a position of being regulated takes years of due diligence and hard work,” he was quoted as saying. “This stuff isn’t easy.”
Skepticism Since Launch
As CUToday.info has regularly reported, almost since the moment it was announced, Libra has been met with skepticism, especially from regulators and governments around the world. Facebook has pitched Libra as a potential foundation for a new financial system that would not be directed by Wall Street or central banks that could be freely traded inside Facebook’s properties, like Messenger and WhatsApp, and be used for international exchange, the Times noted. But that lack of oversight, including how Libra might be used by criminals, has drawn strong interest from governments.
One Facebook executive has already been questioned by Congress, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is to testify about Libra on Oct. 23.