Marcus Remains Optimistic After Major Players Leave Libra

David Marcus, the co-creator of Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency, said progress is being made despite the exit of several big companies, CNBC reported on Wednesday (Oct. 16).

“It wasn’t a tough week,” Marcus told CNBC. Aside from being Libra’s co-creator, he also heads the Libra wallet Calibra.

Although launched and led by Facebook, the stablecoin will be run by the nonprofit Libra Association. And Calibra won’t be the coin’s exclusive wallet; it will integrate with any platforms that accept Libra.

Spotify, Uber and Lyft are among the Libra Association’s 21 inaugural affiliates. The group held its initial meeting on Monday (Oct. 14) in Geneva, Switzerland and created an organizational structure and a board of directors.

Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, eBay and Mercado Pago were signed up to be part of the founding members, but dropped out on Friday (Oct. 11). Booking Holdings left on Monday (Oct. 14), just hours before the inaugural meeting.

“I would rather have all of these companies come with us,” Marcus told CNBC. He added that he understands that firms have to placate skeptical shareholders.

“It’s kind of odd that all of this is happening at the stage of this project, because it’s a project. It’s an idea. It’s a whitepaper. Nothing is operating yet,” he said regarding scrutiny from worldwide regulators. “It’s kind of sad in a way to see all the issues that we currently have with the current system.”

Despite the exodus of key players, Libra said it has 180 potential members in the wings that meet the organization’s membership criteria. Over 1,500 entities have indicated interest in joining the project.

When Libra was announced in June, it was hoping to have 100 member companies on board for a 2020 launch. Membership was originally made up of 28 founding members, but the total dwindled amid widespread scrutiny from regulators worldwide.

Each member is expected to invest $10 million to fund the association.

Libra was announced in June and is aiming to launch in the first half of 2020.