PayPal’s decision to ditch the association of companies put together by Facebook to develop its Libra digital currency coupled with well-publicized concerns of regulators seem to foreshadow challenges ahead. But, in some measure, it was not entirely unpredictable that regulators, wary of a digital currency powered by blockchain that they might not entirely understand, would put pressure on those entities that happen to be fostering the growth of this new tool.
That one significant member of the Libra Association is opting out seems not to faze the association itself. “Building a modern, low-friction, high-security payment network that can empower billions of financially underserved people is a journey, not a destination,” observed a Libra Association spokesperson asked about the PayPal brouhaha. “Although the makeup of the Association members may grow and change over time, the design principle of Libra’s governance and technology, along with the open nature of this project, ensures the Libra payment network will remain resilient,” the spokesperson said.
