Tech

Booking Holdings becomes the latest company to abandon Facebook's libra

Key Points
  • Online travel company Booking Holdings drops out of Facebook's libra, joining a growing list of firms that have exited the embattled cryptocurrency project.
  • Last week, eBay, Stripe, Mastercard, Visa and Mercado Pago all announce they are leaving the Libra Association.
David Marcus, now head of Facebook Financial or F2, testifying about Facebook's proposed digital currency previously known as Libra, during a Senate Banking, House and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, July 16, 2019. The cryptocurrency was renamed Diem in December 2020.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

Online travel company Booking Holdings has dropped out of Facebook's Libra Association, the company told CNBC on Monday. Booking joins a growing list of firms that have exited the embattled cryptocurrency project.

Booking, which operates sites including Booking.com, OpenTable and Kayak, confirmed to CNBC that it would no longer be supporting libra. The company is leaving after an exodus of key Libra Association members last week, including eBay, Stripe, Mastercard, Visa and Mercado Pago.

Dante Disparte, head of policy and communications for the Libra Association, said in a statement that the group appreciates Booking's support for the "goals and mission of the project." Disparte reiterated the Libra Association's earlier statement that it remains focused on moving forward with the project.

It comes as the Libra Association is slated to convene in Geneva on Monday, where members will review a charter that lays out the structure of the organization. The group is also expected to appoint a board of directors.

The Libra Association was originally made up of 28 founding members, but the total continues to dwindle amid widespread scrutiny from officials, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

— CNBC's Deirdre Bosa and Seema Mody contributed to this report.

Here's what it means for Facebook that companies are backing out of Libra
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Here's what it means for Facebook that companies are backing out of Libra