INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Each potentially made Libra more useful, ubiquitous, or reputable
rest of their businesses, these companies are pulling out at least for now
Association members brought to the table and how they could spawn new challenges for the cryptocurrency:VisaWith one of most
widely-accepted payment methods, Visa could have helped make Libra universally spendable
approach that could cause financial ruin if Libra runs into problems
It also could leave Libra with a much weaker presence in brick-and-mortar shops
alongside Visa made Libra look like the incumbents adapting to modern technologies
This made it less threatening, and gave cryptocurrency an air of inevitability
MasterCard would have also brought an even wider network of locations where Libra could one day be used for payment
Now MasterCard and Visa might actively work against Libra to prevent their payment methods being made obsolete by Libra and its elimination
of transaction fees through the blockchain
Two of Libras biggest allies could become its biggest foes.PayPalFacebook has repeatedly told regulators that its Calibra app plus
integrations into Messenger and WhatsApp would not be the only Libra wallets, pointing to PayPal
peer-to-peer payback app Venmo
Together with PayPal, Stripe facilitates a huge portion of online transactions outside of China
Its ease of integration made it a top pick for developers Facebook surely hoped would build atop Libra
you take this on, you can expect a high level of scrutiny from regulators not only on Libra-related activities, but on all payment
between untrusted strangers without a costly middleman
It might have also put Libra into practice on one of the top western online marketplaces outside of Amazon
transaction fees.Mercado PagoOne of the lesser-known Libra Association members, Mercado Pago helps merchants receive payments via email or
The Libra Association has been light on the details of how exactly it serves this demographic, relying on the inclusion of partners like
Mercado Pago to help it figure this out later
Monday, the remaining Libra Association members will meet to finalize the initial member list, elect a board, and create a charter to govern
This forced the hands of the companies above, who had their last chance to depart this week before being pulled deeper into Libra.UNITED
They are less tied up with the status quo of payment processing, and therefore had less to lose
The blockchain-specific companies were likely hoping to piggyback on financial giants like Visa to get Libra approved and create more
legitimacy for their industry as a whole.These partners could help fund an ecosystem of Libra developers, create daily use cases, spread the
system in the developing world, and push for alliances between Libra and cryptocurrency players
Facebook will need to fight to keep them aboard if it wants to avoid Libra looking like a unilateral disruption of the economy.For Libra to
actually launch, Facebook needs to make serious concessions and divert from its initial vision
Otherwise if it continues to butt heads with regulators, more members could flee
dollars instead of a basket of international currencies
cryptocurrency out the door
This is the brand tax of 100 scandals coming back to bite it
Now the best it can hope for is to get even a watered-down version launched, prove it can actually help the underbanked, and then hope to
