EBay, Stripe, Visa, Mastercard and Mercado Pago have followed PayPal in quitting Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency association, as the pushback from politicians and regulators gathers pace.
Mastercard and Visa were both known to be weighing their ongoing participation as members of the Libra Association at the time of PayPal's departure. Matters came to a head late last week when two Senate Democrats upped the ante, urging the two card schemes and Stripe to pull their support for the controversial project.
In a statement, Visa says: "Visa has decided not to join the Libra Association at this time. We will continue to evaluate and our ultimate decision will be determined by a number of factors, including the Association’s ability to fully satisfy all requisite regulatory expectations."
The new is a major setback for Facebook, which is battling on multiple fronts to keep its cryptocurrency vision alive. The Libra Association was seen as a major plus point for the currency, adding a sheen of respectability at a time when Facebook was on the rack over privacy violations
In a Twitter update, Libra lead Davis Marcus thanked Visa and MasterCard for "sticking it out until the 11th hour", admitting that the departures were not "great news".