Libra, the cryptocurrency project of Facebook, has just suffered a heavy blow according to a number of sources.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal on Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for the fintech giant, PayPal, said that the company has decided to “forgo further particpiation” in the project. Despite this, they added that PayPal continues to support Libra’s mission to democratize finance, and will thus keep its options open with Facebook in the future:
We remain supportive of Libra’s aspirations and look forward to continued dialogue on ways to work together in the future. Facebook has been a longstanding and valued strategic partner to PayPal, and we will continue to partner with and support Facebook in various capacities.
This announcement comes shortly after sources to the Financial Times said that PayPal representatives did not make an appearance at a Libra-focused event in Washington. The sources added that out of Libra’s 28 corporate backers, which include Facebook, Spotify, Uber, Coinbase, amongst others, PayPal was the only one that missed the meeting.
It is important to note that by seemingly reneging on the Libra Association, PayPal hasn’t broken any formal agreements. Gabrielle Rabinovitch, the VP of investor relations at PayPal, said last month that the company’s participation in the crypto venture was one backed by a “non-binding” contract.
This is a breaking story; EWN will update the story if there are any new developments.
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