In a blow to Facebook's plan to launch its digital currency Libra, PayPal has announced to withdraw from the Libra Association, the 28-member non-profit organisation formed by the social networking giant for the global rollout next year. According to a report on The Verge, PayPal said it decided "to forgo further participation in the Libra Association at this time and to continue to focus on advancing our existing mission and business priorities as we strive to democratize access to financial services for underserved populations".
Earlier media reports claimed that Visa, Mastercard and some other financial partners who signed on to support Libra were also reconsidering their involvement in the network. PayPal, however, said it remains supportive of Libra's aspirations and look forward to continued dialogue on ways to work together in the future". Despite PayPal moving out of the Libra project, Facebook reaffirmed its commitment to build "a generational payment network".
"It requires a certain boldness and fortitude to take on an endeavour as ambitious as Libra, a generational opportunity to get things right and improve financial inclusion," Dante Disparte, the Libra Association's head of policy and communications, was quoted as saying. US lawmakers recently attacked Facebook, calling it "delusional" and "dangerous", directing the social networking giant to clean up its house first before launching a new business model.
Taking a dig at Facebook's attempt to launch a digital currency called Libra next year, Apple CEO Tim Cook told French financial newspaper Les Echos this week that money must remain in the hands of states. "I am not comfortable with the idea that a private group creates a competing currency. A private company does not have to seek to gain power in this way," Cook was quoted as saying.
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