PayPal Holdings has withdrawn its support for Facebook’s future cryptocurrency Libra, according to a spokesperson for the payments provider.
“PayPal has made the decision to forego further participation in the Libra Association at this time and to continue to focus on advancing our existing mission and business priorities as we arrive to democratize access to financial services to underserved populations,” spokesperson Amanda Miller said via email. “We remain supportive of Libra’s aspirations and look forward to continued dialogue on ways to work together in the future.”
“Facebook has been a longstanding and valued strategic partner to PayPal, and we will continue to partner with and support Facebook in various capacities,” she said.
“Building a modern, low friction, high-security payment network that can empower billions of financially underserved people is a journey, not a destination,” Dante Disparte, head of policy and communications at the Libra Association, via email. “This journey to build a generational payment network like the Libra project is not an easy path.
“We recognize that change is hard, and that each organization that started this journey will have to make its own assessment of risks and rewards being committed to seeing the change that Libra promises,” Disparte continued.
The statement went on to say they look forward to the first Libra Council meeting in 10 days and sharing updates, including from the 1,500 entities that are participating.
Other backers of the cryptocurrency such as Visa and Mastercard are also allegedly reconsidering their support for Libra after increased regulatory scrutiny from both the U.S. and Europe, according to a previous report by The Wall Street Journal, which originally broke today’s news regarding PayPal.
Source: Commweek
