Facebook led blockchain initiative, Libra, suffered a setback when PayPal decided to withdraw from the Libra Association- the entity responsible for building, managing, and rollout of the cryptocurrency in the market.
PayPal, which was among the 29 founding members of Libra association besides Uber, Visa, eBay and others, becomes the first one to leave the initiative. PayPal stated that they will give up on any further participation with the group and will continue to focus on their existing businesses.
In a statement, PayPal said,
We remain supportive of Libra’s aspirations and look forward to continued dialogue on ways to work together in the future.
The statement went on to say that PayPal has strong ties with Facebook and will continue to support its initiatives to their capacity.
The Geneva based Libra Association stated that they were always aware that their endeavor would be challenging.
The type of change that will reconfigure the financial system to be tilted towards people, not the institutions serving them, will be hard. Commitment to that mission is more important to us than anything else. We’re better off knowing about this lack of commitment now, rather than later.
Facebook declined to comment on the subject.
Libra, which was unveiled in June 2019 and is supposed to rollout for the consumers in 2020, has suffered major setbacks since its announcement. It is speculated that Facebook me reschedule its launch due to regulatory concerns.
As per reports from Wall Street Journal, Visa and MasterCard are also skeptical about their involvement with Libra because of the rising regulatory concerns.
France and Germany have already expressed their dismay against the initiative, and have demanded an embargo on its operation in Europe, advocating for a public cryptocurrency.
Libra stated in a Tweet;
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.
