Libra may be losing support from key partners already

Facebook's cryptocurrency Libra is looking less likely to launch as originally envisioned by the day.

A new report from the Wall Street Journal claims that key partners, including Visa and Mastercard, are having second thoughts about their involvement in Libra.

These and other partners have initially signed up to be part of the Libra Association, a Swiss-based organization that's supposed to govern Libra. But after intense scrutiny from lawmakers in the U.S. and Europe, some of these partners are reportedly unhappy with Facebook's answers on how Libra will handle illegal activities, including money laundering and financing of terror groups, on the platform.

Also notable is the lack of public support from Facebook's Libra partners. In July, Mashable has asked six of them, including Visa and Mastercard, whether they still support Libra, and received no answers. And I've seen no public statements of support from them since, leaving Facebook to defend the project on its own.

So far, this has mostly been left to Head of Calibra (which is a wallet for Libra) David Marcus — and sure enough, he commented on WSJ's story on Twitter shortly after it was published.

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According to Marcus, the official "1st wave of Libra Association members will be formalized in the weeks to come." It's unclear whether this means all 22 partners that were listed at Libra's launch in June, and Marcus said in the same Twitter thread that he has "no knowledge of specific organizations [sic] plans to not step up."

Marcus did say that the notion that Facebook did not share "detailed information about how to secure Libra and protect the network against illegal activity is categorically untrue."

"We're very calmly, and confidently working through the legitimate concerns that Libra has raised by bringing conversations about the value of digital currencies to the forefront," he tweeted.

Should Libra lose support from Visa and Mastercard, it would be a major blow to the nascent cryptocurrency and payment platform. According to the Journal, representatives from the companies backing Libra are scheduled to meet on Oct. 14 in Geneva to review the association's charter and appoint a board of directors.

The WSJ's report follows a recent report by Reuters quoting Bertrand Perez, the managing director of Libra Association, as saying that Libra may not launch in June 2020 as originally envisioned, but perhaps one or two quarters later.