Telecom company Vodafone bails Libra Association

Adding to a lengthy list of departures last fall, telecom giant Vodafone has departed the Libra Association, a spokesperson from Vodafone confirmed to Cointelegraph in an email on Jan. 21, 2020. 

The representative said:

“Vodafone Group has decided to withdraw from the Libra Association. We have said from the outset that Vodafone’s desire is to make a genuine contribution to extending financial inclusion. We remain fully committed to that goal and feel that we can make the most contribution by focusing our efforts on M-Pesa. We will continue to monitor the development of the Libra Association and do not rule out the possibility of future co-operation.”

M-Pesa is an African mobile payment option developed by Safaricom, a Kenya-based outfit Vodafone collaborates with.

Cointelegraph also received a statement from the Libra Association on Jan. 21 regarding the telecom’s departure. “We can confirm that Vodafone is no longer a member of the Libra Association.”, Dante Disparte, head of policy and communications for the Libra Association, said in the statement.
“Although the makeup of the Association members may change over time, the design of Libra’s governance and technology ensures the Libra payment system will remain resilient.”, Disparte added. “The Association is continuing the work to achieve a safe, transparent, and consumer-friendly implementation of the Libra payment system.”

Almost immediately after Facebook released the white paper for its Libra digital asset, the project came under regulatory fire, ultimately stalling the project’s progress. 

In the latter part of 2019, many mainstream giants decided to leave the Libra Association, the main entity behind the digital asset. 

In October 2019, Cointelegraph reported on several high profile departures from the association, including Visa, Mastercard, eBay and PayPal.