Visa, Mastercard and others exit Facebook’s Libra Cryptocurrency Group

• The Libra Association is a group overseeing a cryptocurrency project announced by Facebook in June.
• PayPal has already dropped out of the project.

A week after PayPal left Facebook's Libra Association, Visa, Mastercard, eBay, Stripe and Mercado Pago too have all withdrawn from the project.

The Libra Association is a project which Facebook plans to launch, what it envisions as a global currency. The project was launched in June with 28 members. Last week, PayPal was the first to drop out of the project.

In a statement, eBay said that it is focused on rolling out eBay’s managed payments experience for its customers. "We highly respect the vision of the Libra Association. However, eBay has made the decision to not move forward as a founding member," the statement further said.

Credit giant Visa too has decided not to join the Libra Association. “We will continue to evaluate and our ultimate decision will be determined by a number of factors, including the Association’s ability to fully satisfy all requisite regulatory expectations," a Visa spokesperson told The Verge.

Similarly, Stripe in a statement said that it is supportive of projects that aim to make online commerce more accessible for people around the world. “Libra has this potential. We will follow its progress closely and remain open to working with the Libra Association at a later stage," Stripe said.

Libra chief David Marcus, a former president of former Libra Association, responded to the withdrawal from the Visa and Mastercard and thanked them for 'sticking it out until the 11th hour'. "The pressure has been intense (understatement), and I respect their decision to wait until there’s regulatory clarity for Libra to proceed, vs. the invoked threats (by many) on their biz," he tweeted.

Special thanks to @Visa and @Mastercard for sticking it out until the 11th hour. The pressure has been intense (understatement), and I respect their decision to wait until there’s regulatory clarity for @Libra_ to proceed, vs. the invoked threats (by many) on their biz.

— David Marcus (@davidmarcus) October 11, 2019

The libra cryptocurrency is being designed to function like bitcoin and is scheduled to go live next year. The first official meeting of the Libra Council is scheduled for October 14 in Geneva.