Getty ImagesTopline: With lawmakers still trying to figure out how to regulate Facebook’s new Libra currency, the project has faced substantial setbacks in recent months, with over a quarter of the original partners pulling out amid ongoing scrutiny from regulators. The project, which would rely on a coalition of companies—the Libra Association—to oversee it, originally started with 28 corporate members, before backlash from regulators and government officials began dwindling that number. On October 4, PayPal became the first company to pull out of the coalition, an especially symbolic blow given that David Marcus, head of Facebook Libra, used to be the president of that company. With Facebook showing all signs of forging ahead, the initiative will have to mostly rely on the support of smaller payment companies, venture-capital firms, nonprofits and telecom providers. Key background: Since announcing the initiative in June, Facebook has been under the microscope over its plans for a global cryptocurrency-based payments network.

Source: Forbes October 21, 2019 13:41 UTC