Facebook Cryptocurrency Initiative Libra On Rough Patch

Mark Zukerberg's most loved cryptocurrency project is facing huge resistance from the industry as Facebook’s digital currency alliance lost more companies amid heavy criticism from regulators around the world on the planned Libra global cryptocurrency.

Credit card giants Visa and Mastercard, online marketplace eBay and digital payments firm Stripe each announced they had changed their minds about being founding members of the Libra Association assembled to promote the digital currency.

“Mastercard has decided it will not become a member of the Libra Association at this time,” the company said in an emailed statement.

“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 Visa spokesperson offered a similar statement, indicating the company was dropping out of the alliance but could rejoin in the future.

“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,” Visa said.

Silicon Valley-based eBay said: “We highly respect the vision of the Libra Association; however, eBay has made the decision to not move forward as a founding member.” Stripe also said it will follow the progress of Libra and remain open to working with the association at a later date.

“Stripe is supportive of projects that aim to make online commerce more accessible for people around the world,” Stripe said. “Libra has this potential.”

Libra Association confirmed that the companies would no longer be founding members, but said that it would continue building an alliance of businesses, social-good organizations, and others to implement the cryptocurrency.