Founder Jack Dorsey said in an interview he has no interest in developing a cryptocurrency for either Twitter or Square, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Dorsey instead promoted the use of Bitcoin, adding he thinks “open internet standards serve every person better than ones controlled or started by companies.”
“I think [Bitcoin’s] the best bet because it’s been the most resilient, it’s around for 10 years, it has a great brand and it’s been tested a bunch,” he explained. “As I look at all cryptocurrencies that could fill that role of being the native currency for the internet, [Bitcoin is] a pretty high probability.”
It’s no surprise Dorsey wouldn’t want to deal with developing his own crypto, given the issues Facebook has faced before Libra even launches. Last month, it was reported that some early supporters of Libra have been spooked by the intense regulatory scrutiny both national and worldwide, and now want to distance themselves from the project.
The Libra Association, a coalition of 28 members put together by Facebook to help bring the cryptocurrency to fruition, includes Visa, Mastercard, Uber, the subsidiary Calibra and Spotify, among others. The members all made a non-binding promise to invest at least $10 million, and three anonymous members recently said they wanted to back out of the venture.
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Two early backers said they wanted to figure out how to end their relationship with Facebook over the scrutiny, while another early backer said they didn’t want to support Libra publicly because they were worried about the regulatory attention it could bring to their own business.
“I think it’s going to be difficult for partners who want to be seen as in compliance [with their own regulators] to be out there supporting [Libra],” one of the founding partners told the news organization.
