PayPal withdraws from Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency
PayPal was initially part of 28 companies in the Libra Association
U.S. payments processor PayPal announced Friday it was withdrawing from the Libra Association, a Facebook-led effort to build a global digital currency.
In a statement, 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.
These 28 companies are the founding members of Facebook's new stable coin <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cryptocurrency?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cryptocurrency</a> <a href="https://t.co/pW7o6mHMBf">pic.twitter.com/pW7o6mHMBf</a>
—@LibraCryptoPayWith PayPal's departure, Facebook has partnerships with 27 other companies to create the cryptocurrency.
Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that both Mastercard and Visa were considering leaving the project over money laundering concerns.
In July, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that Facebook's plan to build a digital currency "cannot go forward" until serious concerns are addressed — comments that pressured the project and dented the price of the original cryptocurrency bitcoin.
He noted how Facebook's massive user base could spell problems in terms of smoothly implementing the cryptocurrency.