Booking Holdings, the world's leading online travel company whose annual revenue exceeds $14 bln, has officially left the Libra Association, CNBC reports. Thus, it joins the rapidly growing list of former members that already includes Mastercard, PayPal, and Stripe.
Private companies abandoning Facebook
As reported by U.Today, Van Eck's digital asset strategist Gabor Gurbacs slammed the US Senate for pressuring private companies into abandoning Libra.
Just days before the above-mentioned companies withdrew from the Libra Association, their executive received a letter from two US senators who almost explicitly threatened with more regulatory oversight for simply being associated with Libra.
Later, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, the face of the American crypto industry, also shared his dose criticism, claiming that such actions feel "very un-American."
Something feels very un-american about this. Two senators writing to Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe to ask them to withdraw from Libra. https://t.co/U3Y7zkuCFB
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) October 13, 2019
During a recent interview with CBNC, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin opined that all these big names were abandoning Libra because it didn't live up to regulatory standards.
"I think they realized that they’re not ready, they’re not up to par and I assume some of the partners got concerned and dropped out until they meet those standards.
Facebook not backing down
Despite the exodus of high-profile supporters, Facebook is not backpedaling on its plan to launch a stablecoin that will be pegged to a basket of digital currencies.
Libra Association spokesperson Dante Disparte has once again stated that the social media juggernaut was "moving forward" with Libra while expressing its gratitude to Booking Holdings for supporting the goals of the project.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Oct. 23.
Will the Libra Association have any members left by the end of 2019? Share your take in the comment section!
Arman Shirinyan
Yuri Molchan
Godfrey Benjamin
