Bad news for his ambitious plan Mark Zuckerberg: Mastercard, Visa, Stripe and eBay are pulling out of Facebook's Libra payments network, according to reports, marking Facebook's entry into the market encryptions in immediate danger.
The news is coming a few days after PayPal was removed project, followed by several months of scrutiny by global regulators.
Facebook announced the Libra project June of 2019, explaining that it intends to release a digital currency 2020.
Digital currency could be integrated into Facebook's services to provide the necessary tool for all e-commerce transactions on the social network platform and beyond.
At the time, Facebook proudly announced that there were many industry giants backing the project, and they formed the Libra Association based in Geneva, a consortium that would oversee its encryption and development.
The initial members of the consortium were Uber, Lyft, Spotify, Vodafone, Mercado Pago, PayU and others.
But slowly the companies - supporters of the ambitious project started to leave. Of course, all those who left the consortium tried to leave the door open (perhaps for a return if they saw the idea enthusiastically adopted).
"Visa has decided not to join the Libra Association right now," said a Visa company spokesman at ZDNet.
Visa's continued interest in Libra stems from our belief that blockchain-based networks could be extended to secure digital transactions to a greater number of people and places, especially in emerging and developing markets.
A Stripe spokesman told ZDNet:
Stripe argues projects που αποσκοπούν στο να καταστήσουν το διαδικτυακό εμπόριο πιο προσιτό σε ανθρώπους από όλο τον κόσμο, και το Libra έχει αυτή τη δυναμική, θα παρακολουθούμε στενά την πρόοδό του και θα παραμείνουμε ανοιχτοί στη συνεργασία με την Libra Association σε μεταγενέστερο στάδιο.
While eBay reported:
We respect the vision of the Libra Association. However, eBay has decided not to go as a founding member.
Mastercard has not made any statement at this time.
It should be mentioned here that after the announcement of the Libra project by Facebook, there were many reactions:
- Facebook Libra stop by American Lawmakers
- Facebook Libra: Three questions for Facebook
- Facebook Libra: command to stop the project
- Facebook Libra: France doesn't want it in Europe
- PayPal withdraws from Facebook Libra Association
