Another big company has bailed out on Libra.
According to CoinDesk, British telecom giant Vodafone has become the eighth company to pull out of the Libra Association.
A Vodafone spokesperson told the news portal that the company has decided to shift resources previously intended for Libra to the expansion of M-Pesa, the firm’s own digital payment service.
Vodafone’s exit follows several high-profile departures at the consortium. Payments giants eBay, Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe all left the project following increased regulatory pressure in the latter part of 2019, with some groups complaining that Facebook “oversold” how comfortable regulators were with the platform.
The telecom conglomerate’s withdrawal, however, appears much more amicable, with regulatory concerns not being a cause of the departure.
“We have said from the outset that Vodafone’s desire is to make a genuine contribution to extending financial inclusion,” a company spokesperson said. “We remain fully committed to that goal.”
Dante Disparte, head of policy and communication with the Libra Association, addressed Vodafone’s decision in a statement.
“Although the makeup of the Association members may change over time, the design of Libra’s governance and technology ensures the Libra payment system will remain resilient,” Disparte said.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns