Vodafone becomes the eighth company that leaves the Libra Association

British telecommunications giant Vodafone was the latest to say goodbye to an ambitious digital asset project after it spread late last year with big names associated with the Libra Association such as Paypal, Visa, Mastercard and Ebay. While Vodafone's announcement notes that it does not rule out the possibility of working with Libra in the future, a statement released Tuesday by the Libra Association confirms the withdrawal.

Another big name comes from the Libra Association

Membership Associations Libra continues to decline as British telecommunications conglomerate Vodafone was the last to announce the withdrawal from the group. Libra Association describes its role as work on the "development and scaling of the network and reserve" of the planned Libra cryptocurrency.

Despite the publication of the signed charter last October with the signing of the Vodafone representative, the group confirmed its departure on Tuesday and said in a statement: “We will continue to monitor the development of the Libra Association and do not exclude the possibility of future cooperation

The association, which began with 28 founding members, currently has 20 members since Booking Holdings, Ebay, Mastercard, Mercado Pago, Paypal, Stripe, Visa and Vodafone all left. Vodafone does its best to channel resources and attention to M-pesa, its own digital payment service. Some speculate that Libra's ongoing clashes with government regulators and financial policy makers may also be a factor in decision making.

Libra move ahead despite uncertainty

Dante Dispart, head of the Politics and Communications Division at Libra, said in a statement published in several media outlets:

Although the membership of the Association may change over time, the management structure and technology of Libra ensures that the Libra payment system remains stable. The Association continues to ensure the safe, transparent and user-friendly implementation of the Libra payment system.

While some are planning to launch Libra crypto in 2020, some of them – in part due to the lack of a specific mention in CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s recent social media post – “The Vision of the Decade” – are pushing for the formation of the Libra Association. Libra also doesn't seem to be lacking interest from companies looking to participate, with reports of a waiting list of over 1500 companies and plans to welcome new members in 2020.

The Libra project was harassed by politicians and lawmakers from the very beginning and even mocked influential people in the cryptocurrency because they were not real crypto in the sense of decentralization and limited supply. However, the saga stretches into a whole new decade, while the crypto community is watching to see what is unfolding.

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