The recent threat from US Senators towards PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, eBay, and Stripe which seems to have led to their withdrawal from the Libra project, had some other participants concerned as well.
Booking Holdings Inc, which operates both Kayak.com and Priceline.com and Bookings.com, has also withdrawn from the Libra Association inital membership.
The Connecticut-based travel company pulled out on the day the Libra Association met in Geneva to begin formalising the structure of the Libra Association.
At the Libra meeting in Geneva, members agreed that most decisions will now require a majority vote of the group’s newly formed governing council. The group elected five people to serve on the board, including Facebook’s David Marcus as well as representatives from PayU, venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, blockchain company Xapo Holdings Limited and non-profit Kiva Microfunds.
The association’s other prominent remaining members include Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L) and ride-hailing firms Uber Technologies Inc (UBER.N) and Lyft Inc (LYFT.O).
The consortium of companies which was 28 members, is now at 21, and has prompted the newly-launched crypto asset futures exchange CoinFLEX to offer bets on whether or not the project would launch on time.
Further to this, the G7 task force recently set up to debate the potential implications of the digital currency has issued a report stating that the Libra project will not be allowed to launch until it is proven safe and secure. The task force includes high profile central bankers, representatives from the IMF, and members of the Financial Stability Board.
As we have previously noted, it seems counterproductive for regulators to seek to frighten away payment processors from a payment processor project, unless the end goal is to completely stop the project.
Despite this hostility, the formation of the Libra governing council is a positive sign, as Libra are taking a stringent stance on fortifying the support they already possess and remain on track and on course for release.
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