Visa, EBay, Stripe and Mastercard have all announced that they are dropping out of Facebook’s Libra Association and its associated stablecoin project.
Four companies abandon ship
On Oct. 11, Bloomberg reported that Ebay, Stripe and Mastercard had decided to drop out of Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency project. Within minutes, Visa said it had also decided not to join the Libra Association, according to The Block.
The news comes one week after payment processor PayPal announced its withdrawal from the Libra stablecoin project as regulators continue to scrutinize the project.
The companies have expressed respect for Facebook’s vision and claim to see continued potential in the project, but chose to redirect their focus for the time being.
Cointelegraph previously reported that Visa, Mastercard and Stripe were trying to ensure that Facebook’s crypto project wasn’t harming their relationships with regulators. The three payments giants hinted that Facebook had exaggerated claims that regulators were comfortable with Libra. Stripe initially denied it was considering a U-turn, but said today 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.”
Coinbase CEO supports Libra
Brian Armstrong, CEO and co-founder of major crypto exchange Coinbase, recently said that he believes that “the way the U.S. government reacted it's like they almost want to be left behind.”
He also echoed his concerns over the United States possibly becoming obsolete due to innovation obstruction, adding:
“The way for countries to remain relevant over the long term and continue to have high economic growth is to invest in science, technology, and innovation. If the government can help here, even better. But first it needs to do no harm.”