London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Facebook puts on brave face with Libra

Facebook puts on brave face with Libra

Facebook's cryptocurrency project still aims to launch next year, despite high-profile partners dropping out.

After five major payments providers pulled out last week, Facebook’s Libra currency project looked to be on the rocks.

But the remaining members have insisted it’s full steam ahead.

The 21 founding companies in the Libra Association - down from 28 when the project was first announced - met for the first time in Geneva on Monday.

A spokesman told the BBC he believed the currency was still on track to launch next year.

But, he added, it would only do so if suitable regulatory approval had been granted.

It comes after a stern warning from the G7 group of nations that Libra risked disrupting the global financial order.

That concern followed a letter to payments providers from US senators Brian Shatz and Sherrod Brown, sent on 8 October, that threatened “a high level of scrutiny from regulators not only on Libra-related payment activities, but on all payment activities”.

Libra Association spokesman Dante Disparte criticised the senators, telling the BBC the letter “stifles private market innovation”.

“At some level it confounds the regulatory process and the law-making process of free market economies,” Mr Disparte said in a phone call on Monday.

The interference created a “problematic precedent for the state of private sector innovation”, he added.


Another drop-out


Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, eBay, PayPal and Mercado Pago were the six firms that dropped out ahead of Monday’s meeting. On Monday morning, it was revealed that Booking Holdings - the firm behind Booking.com - had also pulled out.

The remaining 21 members all confirmed their commitment to the project at the Geneva meeting. Among them are rideshare firms Uber and Lyft, prominent venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures, music streaming service Spotify, and the sales and services arm of telecoms company Vodafone.

Netherlands-based PayU is the only remaining member operating in the online payments processing sector.

“We believe that the design of the Libra ecosystem has the potential to address a number of societal needs,” a PayU spokesperson said, in a statement sent out by the Libra Association.


Search on for CEO


Of the 21 companies, representatives from five of the firms were elected to form the Libra Association’s board, with Facebook’s David Marcus among them. Bertrand Perez, a former senior director at PayPal, was appointed chief operating officer and interim managing director.

The board would soon set up a search committee to appoint a permanent chief executive, Mr Disparte said.

He added that many more firms were interested in joining the association.

“More than 1,500 organisations have expressed an interest in joining this effort,” Mr Disparte said.

“Even though aspects of that have been difficult in the last few months.”

In response to mounting concerns, Facebook’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has been called to appear before a congressional panel on 23 October to discuss Libra, and likely other issues involving his firm.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×