Paypal Leaves Facebook's Libra Association
PayPal Holdings Inc on Friday said it was withdrawing from the Libra Association, a Facebook-led effort to build a global digital currency.
PayPal said it would forgo any further participation in the group, saying instead it would focus on its own core businesses.
“We remain supportive of Libra’s aspirations and look forward to continued dialogue on ways to work together in the future,” the company said in a statement.
“We remain supportive of Libra’s aspirations and look forward to continued dialogue on ways to work together in the future,” the statement continues. “Facebook has been a longstanding and valued strategic partner to PayPal, and we will continue to partner with and support Facebook in various capacities.”
“We look forward to the first Libra Council meeting in 10 days and will be sharing updates following that, including details of the 1,500 entities that have indicated enthusiastic interest to participate,” Libra Association tweeted.
Facebook announced plans to launch the digital currency in June 2020, in partnership with other members of the Libra Association set up by the U.S. tech giant to manage the project.
However, the attempt to drag cryptocurrencies into the mainstream has since met with regulatory and political skepticism globally, with France and Germany pledging to block Libra from operating in Europe.
The Wall Street Journal also reported earlier this week that both Mastercard and Visa, as well as digital payment platform and processor Stripe, were also considering withdrawing from the association over money laundering concerns.