Booking Holdings & Mercado Pago Are The Latest to Cut Ties With Libra Association

Following PayPal’s departure earlier this month and then eBay, Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard, payments company Mercado Pago followed soon after and today Booking Holdings, an online travel company has also announced that it is withdrawing the participation in the Libra Association.

In total, seven companies have made an exit from the ambitious and controversial project of Facebook to create a new cryptocurrency.

Booking was among more than two dozen companies that were the first ones to express an interest in joining the project.

With key payment partners having left the Libra Association, the project now faces the question of how it will function and regulate its operations. It further means Libra doesn't have a global player to help facilitate transactions.

This leaves PayU, Naspers subsidiary the only remaining payment player that may be set to stay as Naspers CEO Bob van Dijk said last week it was committed to the project, though it was before the recent exodus.

As we recently reported, US lawmakers sent letters to these companies and their CEOs threatening them to quit Libra Association or

“expect a high level of scrutiny from regulators not only on Libra- related payment activities, but on all payment activities.”

Pivotal Meeting of Backers

The Libra Association is all set to meet Monday at its headquarters in Geneva just days after suffering a severe setback.

At the meeting, members will agree on interim articles of association, Reuters reported a spokesman for Vodafone, one of the highest-profile companies remaining with the project as saying. A board will also be appointed at the meeting.

The remaining 21 members now include Uber, Lyft, venture capital groups, blockchain firms, and non-profit organizations.

Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerburg will also testify at the House Financial Services Committee on Libra, among other topics next week.