What: Facebook’s FB 313,59, +1,17% Libra coalition seems to be falling apart before it’s even launched with a few key members dropping out in the past weeks.
Who: Some of Libra Association’s key founders, including Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, eBay, Stripe and Mercado Pago have all pulled out of the project amid the fierce backlash from regulators around the world.
Following their withdrawal, the association’s membership has dwindled to 14 from 28 previously.
What now: The consortium is set to meet today in Geneva to discuss its next steps and appoint a board of directors.
This comes at a time of increased regulatory scrutiny on the proposed cryptocurrency, as Facebook’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is getting ready to testify on the issue before Congress on October 23, 2019.
In the words of Facebook’s David Marcus, however, who is in charge of Libra, we shouldn’t be quick to write off the project just yet.
Context: The Libra project, announced earlier in 2019, envisaged the creation of a new crypto wallet called Calibra, working with the Libra stabled coin to be backed by various assets like currencies and bonds. Initial reports set the expected launch date for mid-2020.
