PayPal Sees Resemblance in Facebook’s Libra

The Investor Relations Vice President of PayPal, one of the world’s largest online payment processors, has said that Facebook’s Libra is consistent with PayPal’s ambitions when it comes to banking the unbanked. She also said that there’s a lot of work to be done on the project before it becomes something more than just an idea. 

PayPal Bullish on Libra

Earlier this year, Facebook, the world’s largest social media website, announced its future cryptocurrency project, Libra. While it received mixed reactions from institutions and the crypto community, it remains one of the most widely discussed topics in the field. 

Weighing in on the matter was the Investor Relations Vice President of PayPal, Gabrielle Rabinovitch. 

Rabinovitch termed her company’s commitment to the project as non-binding and noted that “there’s a lot of work to happen before we get to that point where it becomes something more than just a very exciting idea.”

However, she added that Libra’s goals are pretty much in line with those of PayPal when it comes to banking the unbanked. 

“The goals and ambitions of Libra are very consistent with PayPal’s overall ambitions in terms of serving the underserved, democratizing access to capital.”

She summed up PayPal’s position on the matter by stating that they “very much believe in the potential of Libra.”

Tough Times For Libra

It’s safe to say that Libra and its Association could use every word of endorsement it can get, as times have certainly been better for the project. 

The Independent recently reported that France’s Economy and Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, said that the country plans to block the project in the EU over concerns that it threatens the sovereignty of national currencies. 

And just yesterday, September 13, Spiegel Online reported that the Head of Blockchain Policy at Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Thomas Heilmann, said that the government will reject projects such as Facebook’s Libra. 

Yet, despite all of that, the social media giant pushes forward with the development of the project. According to Bertrand Perez, the general director of the Libra Association, they are on track to launch as scheduled at the end of 2020. 

“… We are firmly maintaining our launch schedule, between the end of the first half of the year and the end of 2020.”