• Levey to lead Libra
    Stuart Levey's goal as CEO of the Libra Association is to calm its critics (Photo: Libra Association)
    Cryptocurrencies,  People,  Politics

    Stuart Levey to lead Libra Association, comfort critics

    A top HSBC executive and Treasury Department official in charge of financial crimes and sanctions, a big part of the new CEO’s role is to reassure central bankers, regulators, and elected officials

    May 6, 2020 /

    By hiring Stuart Levey the Facebook-founded Libra Association is announcing that compliance—with central bankers, financial regulators, tax authorities, and criminal and intelligence investigators—will be a prime driver as it moves forward.

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  • Shopify helps Facebook’s Libra frontman David Marcus
    Facebook’s Libra frontman, Calibra wallet head David Marcus, finally has something to smile about. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
    Alt coins,  Regulation

    Shopify joins Libra, providing badly needed win

    The Libra Association’s long losing streak came to an end today as the global e-commerce firm Shopify announced its membership in the stablecoin project

    February 21, 2020 /

    After a long, painful string of defections, the Libra Association finally has some good news to announce. A new member, retail e-commerce site Shopify, made the $25 million commitment to join on Feb. 21.

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  • Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga Facebook Libra
    There are worse things you can say about a group that wants in to the financial industry than they don't care about anti-money laundering rules. But not many (Photo: Mastercard)
    Alt coins,  Politics,  Regulation

    Mastercard’s chief tosses Facebook’s Libra under the bus

    The credit card firm’s CEO, Ajay Banga, said compliance concerns were the reason he pulled out of Facebook’s stablecoin project

    February 3, 2020 /

    Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga told the Financial Times on Monday that important members of the Libra Association wouldn’t give a firm commitment to follow local laws in all circumstances, including know your client (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.

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  • Vodafone says Africa is calling. Gonna focus on M-Pesa instead of Libra. (via iStock)
    Vodafone says Africa is calling. Gonna focus on M-Pesa instead of Libra. (via iStock)
    Cryptocurrencies,  Libra

    Vodafone quits Libra Association

    The British telecom giant has become the eighth big company to withdraw from Facebook’s troubled cryptocurrency project

    January 21, 2020 /

    Vodafone has withdrawn from the Libra Association, the independent governing council for Facebook’s global cryptocurrency project. The British telecom giant said that it wants to switch gears and put the resources it originally intended for Libra into its African mobile money transfer service M-Pesa. 

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