Facebook’s cryptocurrency project, Libra, has announced the selection of a five-member board on Monday. The company has dismissed the recent turmoil over several prominent members leaving, the latest one being an online travel company called Booking Holdings.
The head of policy and communications representing the Libra Association, Dante Disparte, says that the recent developments are nothing more than corrections and not setbacks. The inaugural meeting for the remaining 21 members of the Libra Association has been decided to take place in Geneva.
Booking Holdings – the parent organization for Kayak, Priceline and Booking.com – has verified that the companies have withdrawn from the group. The reason for the decision is probably because of the unyielding political pressure Libra has been enduring.
Currently, Libra has lost the remainder of its last international backers the previous week. MasterCard and Visa are two of the main corporations who have retracted support for the Libra Association, which is based in Geneva, followed by financial tech start-up Stripe, EBay and Mercado Pago.
Previously, politicians and regulators have spoken out against Libra’s developments, claiming that it could potentially risk upsetting international financial stability, threatening consumer’s privacy and could be utilized for money laundering. The recent withdrawals following PayPal from the Libra Association has left Facebook with no backing of a major payment firm for the project with its due launch currently set in June 2020.
Disparte claims that cryptocurrency’s regulation issues could push back the launch date.
Current Members of the Libra Association
During the meeting in Geneva, interim articles of the Libra Association’s structure and governing were unanimously agreed on by the members. The practice is mandatory as per Swiss law.
Decisions in the Association require a majority vote by the members of the council, but the changes of the membership and management will be held by a two-third majority voting. Currently, the group has elected a board of five people. The board includes Facebook’s David Marcus, PayU representative, Andreessen Horowitz and Xapo Holdings and microfinance company called Kiva.
Some of the remaining notable members of the Association include Vodafone Group, Uber and Lyft. The only payment firm remaining on the Association is PayU, based in the Netherlands. The recent withdrawals of major financial companies show lack of confidence in the reliability of Libra to attract enough consumers who would utilize the services of the Libra digital currency.
This presents another hurdle for Facebook to convince regulators and politicians of Libra’s safety and security.
