Libra has had a rather tough year, going forward. If it’s not a coalition of central banks asking uncomfortable questions, it’s the EU and US trying to do the same. If it’s not PayPal pulling its support from it, it’s eBay, Visa Mastercard, and Stripe pulling out shortly thereafter.
This move is in light of the regulations that could be enacted by the EU to try and curb Libra’s development. The EU has had a blatantly cold reception for Libra from the beginning, stating that only sovereign states should be allowed to issue out currencies. While the EU has recently warmed up to the idea of an EU backed stablecoin, Facebook’s cryptocurrency is something no one wants to accept with joy. Switzerland, the country most accepting of Libra, is only allowing it to develop as long as it fits Switzerland’s regulations as well.
The rising attempt to regulate the Libra coin has had a considerable effect on those that initially backed the Libra association, the group in charge of supervising Facebook’s cryptocurrency. Paypal, Stripe, eBay, and Mastercard have all pulled out, with reports stating that the other members are reconsidering their ventures.
A spokeswoman of eBay went to the public, stating that the company highly respects the Libra association and their vision. Even so, eBay noted that they had made the decision not to be a founding member of Facebook’s Libra currency. They cite that they’re busy with internal aspects of the eBay platform, like managed payments’ user experience.
Stripe’s spokesman reiterated the support that eBay gave, albeit indirectly. They stated that they’re supportive of all projects that have the aim to make online commerce easier for people around the world. They stated that Libra has that potential and that they will follow the progress it makes very carefully. They, like PayPal before them, said that they’re open to working with Libra, just on a later date.
These founding members, including those that haven’t yet left the cryptocurrency, were expected to meet this Monday. However, whether or not that will still happen is a bit in the air after these three heavyweights decided to jump off the ship.
Each member of the group was expected to invest a whopping $10 million into Libra’s infrastructure to help with operation costs. No one has spent anything at the time of this writing, and with a seventh of the board members gone, the others will doubtlessly be forced to pick up the slack.
It’s unsure whether or not it’s just the none crypto-native partners that are wavering in front of the scrutiny of regulators. Partners like Coinbase and Xapo aren’t on the radar for potentially leaving the group, but there have been no affirmations that they will stay “despite it all,” so to speak.
Within and Without
Libra’s executive panel has taken a hit, as well. Chief Product Officer, Simon Morris, had left the group yesterday. This was after a massive backlash from many government authorities of the coin.
Libra has the chance to change the way money works in the world irreversibly. Allowing a private organization to regulate its own currency in such an official way would mean that other corporations, like Google or Microsoft, can follow suit. While Apple has given its opinion that it’s against the idea, who knows what the future may hold. At this rate, Libra might never even launch.
