Libra Exodus Continues: Visa, Mastercard And Ebay Leave Facebook’s Cryptocurrency Project Following PayPal’s Exit

In a major jolt to Facebook, several top-notch companies like Visa, Mastercard and EBay have pulled out of the Libra cryptocurrency project ahead of their first meeting in Geneva on 14 October. This follows in the wake of PayPal first announcing its withdrawal from the Libra Association earlier this month.

"Over the course of a few hours, Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and Mercado Pago all bailed on the project. That meant every major US payment processor has exited the association," reports The Verge.

Libra project head at Facebook, David Marcus, tweeted: "I would caution against reading the fate of Libra into this update. Of course, it's not great news in the short term, but in a way it's liberating. Stay tuned for more very soon. Change of this magnitude is hard. You know you're on to something when so much pressure builds up".

The pull out is to avoid the US regulators who are scrutinising Facebook and its subsidiaries.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to testify before the US House of Representatives on 23 October to discuss concerns over 'Libra' that has run into rough weather.

Zuckerberg will be grilled by lawmakers and regulators during the Q&A session at the US House Financial Services Committee.

In July, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the committee sent a letter to Facebook requesting an immediate moratorium on the implementation of Facebook's proposed cryptocurrency, Libra, and digital wallet, Calibra.

A number of US lawmakers have attacked Facebook on its Libra project, calling it "delusional" and "dangerous".

(With inputs from IANS)