Facebook’s cryptocurrency, Libra, has faced another setback after telecommunications firm, Vodafone, withdrew from the project, citing the need to concentrate on its own related service.
“We can confirm that Vodafone is no longer a member of the Libra Association. Although the makeup of the Association members may change over time, the design of libra’s governance and technology ensures the Libra payment system will remain resilient. The Association is continuing the work to achieve a safe, transparent, and consumer-friendly implementation of the Libra payment system.” CNBC quoted a statement from Libra Association.
Other firms which have previously withdrawn from the project include Paypal, Mastercard, Visa, eBay, Stripe, Booking Holdings and Mercado Pago.
Read Also: PayPal Drops out of Facebook’s Libra Project
According to Vodafone, the company will thus redirect the resources previously intended for Libra, to M-Pesa.
Still, the Libra Association maintains that despite the exits, more than 1,500 entities have expressed an interest in joining the digital currency project.
Libra is a permissioned blockchain digital currency proposed by Facebook. The project, currency and transactions are to be managed and cryptographically entrusted to the Libra Association, a membership organization of companies from payment, technology, telecommunication, online marketplace and venture capital, and nonprofit.
The plan is for the Libra token to be backed by financial assets such as a basket of currencies, and US Treasury securities in an attempt to avoid volatility. Facebook has announced that each of the partners will inject an initial $10 million, so Libra has full asset backing on the day it opens.
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