[ad_1]
A Facebook cryptocurrency pound logo seen on a smartphone.
SOPA Images | LightRocket | fake pictures
The global digital currency project backed by Facebook Libra has a new supporter: Singapore’s state investor Temasek Holdings.
Temasek was one of three organizations named Thursday as the latest members to join the initiative of the Libra Association, a Swiss-based independent group created to manage the digital currency project. Crypto investor Paradigm and private equity firm Slow Ventures were the other two new members.
Facebook unveiled its vision for the pound last year as an alternative global digital payment system where a single token would be backed by multiple fiat currencies. That was quickly criticized by regulators who were concerned if the project were to become widespread, alter or drastically undermine their roles and disrupt the financial system, giving Facebook, a company with a history of privacy scandals, control over its citizens’ resources. .
Several payment companies have withdrawn from the project, including Visa, Mastercard and PayPal. That makes Temasek, which has a portfolio value of 313 billion Singapore dollars (around $ 219 billion), one of the pound’s most prominent backers. British payments company Checkout.com joined the project in April.
Temasek “brings a differentiated position as an investor focused on Asia,” said the Libra Association.
“Our participation in the Libra Association as a member will allow us to contribute to a regulated global network for profitable retail payments,” Chia Song Hwee, deputy executive director of Temasek, said in a statement. “We are excited about many developments in space, we hope to further explore the potential of technology.”
To win over regulators, the April pound project took a narrower approach.
– CNBC’s Ryan Browne contributed to this report.
