Libra Association Looses Support of 3 Founding Members

Facebook falls under heavy pressure as the Libra Association is losing support both externally and internally. Mark Zuckerberg’s futile effort to save the company’s reputation may meet the fate of Sisyphus as the consortium itself may fall apart due to lack of support.

Growing concern over regulatory measures resulted in two founding members of the Libra Association Consortium discussing whether they should continue supporting the project. Founded by Facebook and 28 other members, the Libra Association faces pressure from numerous governments, agencies, and institutions due to previous allegations of Facebook selling private data.

On the 23rd August, an article published by the Financial Times revealed that two founding members, who remain anonymous for now, seek to ‘distance themselves’ from the project. While Facebook became frustrated due to the other members not showing support, one of the founding members stated that the core issue was a lack of discussion over regulation before the launch.

Additionally, one more anonymous member fears that their business will face further regulatory pressure due to their ties with the controversial project.

While seen as a beacon of hope that would bring cryptocurrencies closer to the world, the crypto community is still divided concerning the possibility of Facebook creating an entirely centralized and possibly malicious project.

Powerful pressure comes from both US and EU institutions. A recent report from Bloomberg shows that the European Commission started an antitrust investigation due to possible ‘anti-competitive behavior.’ New developments are also set to occur this week as a US delegation led by Congress member Maxine Waters visits Switzerland. The visit was planned in an effort to discuss the future of Facebook’s project with the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner Adrian Lobsiger.

Initially, Facebook remained committed to launching Libra during the next year, announcing that all concerns will be resolved before the stablecoin enters the market. However, the company warned investors in a quarterly report last month that continued pressure may lead to the project never being released.