After some of its major backers including eBay, MasterCard, PayPal and Visa Inc. announced their withdrawals, 21 members of the Facebook-led Libra Association formally signed onto its charter and formalized the Libra Association council.
The project aimed at establishing Libra – the permissioned blockchain digital currency – has been intensely scrutinized since its announcement in June this year.
An updated list of 21 members – down from 28 in June – will still be backing and governing Libra include Anchorage; Mercy Corps; Andreessen Horowitz; PayU; Bison Trails Co.; Ribbit Capital; Breakthrough Initiatives, L.P.; Spotify AB; Calibra, Inc.; Thrive Capital; Coinbase, Inc.; Uber Technologies, Inc.; Creative Destruction Lab; Union Square Ventures; Farfetch UK Limited; Vodafone; Iliad; Women’s World Banking; Kiva Microfunds; Xapo Holdings Limited; Lyft, Inc.
The board of directors of the Libra Council, who were confirmed today, include David Marcus from Calibra, Inc., Matthew Davie from Kiva Microfunds, Patrick Ellis from PayU, Wences Casares from Xapo Holdings Limited, and Katie Haun from Andreessen Horowitz. The initial staff members include Bertrand Perez as the chief operating officer and interim managing director, Dante Disparte as the head of policy and communications, and Kurt Hemecker as the head of business development.
The Libra Association confirmed in a press release that more than 1,500 entities have shown their interest in being a part of the Libra project initiative, and around 180 of those entities have met the preliminary membership criteria shared at libra.org.