AFP, Geneva :
The Libra Association, created by Facebook to launch its new cryptocurrency, has announced its 21 founding members after defections by previous supporters including Visa and Mastercard.
The announcement on Monday came as the planned Libra global currency faces swelling criticism from regulators, and reported warnings from the Group of Seven that it poses a threat to the global financial system.
The group kicked off its first council meeting in Geneva and founding members including Uber, Spotify and Vodafone formally signed onto the Libra Charter, director general Bertrand Perez said.
“We now have a total guarantee of their involvement, so we have confidence in the project,” he said.
Last month, the non-profit association voiced hope that the number of companies backing it when it opened for business would swell from an initial 28 to “well over 100”.
But instead the list has shrunk, after more of its initial backers walked away amid swelling criticism from regulators around the world.
Credit card giants Visa and Mastercard, online marketplace eBay and digital payments firm Stripe each announced Friday they had changed their minds about being founding members of the association, following a similar recent announcement by digital payments firm PayPal.
The Libra Association confirmed Friday that the companies would no longer be founding members, but said it would continue building an alliance of businesses, social-good organisations, and others to implement the cryptocurrency.
Its launch was originally planned for mid 2020, but Perez said he had not ruled out a later start date.
“What we want is to build a platform that is solid, that is there to last and that will survive in the long term,” he said, adding he was still “optimistic” about reaching around 100 members as planned.
