Jack Dorsey Says ‘Hell No’ To Joining Facebook’s Libra

On October 24, 2019, Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, claimed the company and popular social media network would never join Facebook’s Libra Association. 

Dorsey was speaking at a Twitter media event in New York City, and when asked if he would join Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra, his exact response was “Hell, no!”. 

He also insisted that Libra isn’t even a real cryptocurrency and that his company will have nothing to do with it.

Dorsey’s comments, in response to the question, if Twitter would ever join Libra, were captured by CNN media reporter Kerry Flynn. He responded:

“Nothing within Libra had to be a cryptocurrency to do what they want to do. They use that label liberally. It’s completely incorrect.”

He also added that the Libra initiative did not have to be a cryptocurrency if the idea behind it was to democratize the financial system. 

At the same time, Dorsey was enthusiastic about more decentralized cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, seeing them as part of a growing international online community.

The Libra cryptocurrency is expected to be backed by a number of currencies such as the U.S. dollar, the euro, the Singapore dollar and the British pound. 

More Trouble for Libra

Facebook’s Libra project has hit a sequence of obstacles in recent weeks, starting with the unexpected withdrawal of Mastercard, eBay, Visa, Stripe, and other payment processors on October 11, just hours before the Libra Association’s inaugural meeting. 

That has left the Libra association without a U.S payment processor, meaning the coin is facing an uncertain path to launching in the future.

Zuckerberg Faces Congress

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress on October 24, about the company’s plans of joining the crypto space with Libra, and he faced strong skepticism from lawmakers. 

He said that he wished legislators could separate the Libra initiative from Facebook, as the company plans to play only a partial role once the broader Libra association is realized. 

Nonetheless, Facebook’s record of privacy breaches has cast doubts over the emerging payment network.