New setbacks for Facebook’s libra – now Visa and Mastercard are also leaving the project

After Facebook announced that they are planning to release a cryptocurrency called libra in 2020, the project was met with a lot of criticism, not least from politicians and lawmakers around the world.

In early October, it was reported that both major companies Visa and Mastercard, which are also founding members of the Libra Association, a consortium based in Switzerland that will control the planned cryptocurrency, are considering withdrawing.

The news was followed by the fact that online payment company Paypal was also reported to be close to withdrawing from Facebook’s libra project, which also happened later.

And now many of the companies confirm that they actually choose to leave, Coindesk reports.

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Political pressure

It is Mastercard, Visa, the online auction site Ebay, the payment service company Stripe and the payment platform Mercado Pago that are now withdrawing from the Libra Association.

One reason for the dropout is stated to be political pressure.

“Visa has decided not to join the Libra Association at this time. We will continue to evaluate and our ultimate decision will be determined by a number of factors, including the Association’s ability to fully satisfy all requisite regulatory expectations”, a spokesperson for Visa told Coindesk.

Mastercard too states that they will continue to monitor developments with libra.

“Mastercard has decided it will not become a member of the Libra Association at this time. We remain focused on our strategy and our own significant efforts to enable financial inclusion around the world. We believe there are potential benefits in such initiatives and will continue to monitor the libra effort”, a spokesperson for Mastercard told Coindesk.

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