Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency is faced with continuous critism, but not from Sweden. The European country's central bank, Riksbank, expressed support for the the widely denounced digital money.
According to CNBC, Governor of Riksbank, Stefan Ingves, said the Calibra Project is actually "an incredibly important catalyctic event" that could transform the global banking sector for the better.
Sweden has long been looking at the possibilities of a cashless financial system as more and more citizens opt for online and non-cash transactions.
Ingves' statements are a far cry from the usual comments from other global finance leaders. On the other hand, the company appears to be undaunted by increasing scrutiny.
Facebook held its first meeting in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday despite the unsurprising exit of several key players in its Libra Council. The cryptocurrency's council now has 21 remaining members following the farewell of seven backers over the past few days.
The social media network pursued the announcement of its 21 founding members, despite the apparent scrutiny that led some high-profile backers to drop the struggling Calibra Project.
PayPal was the first to drop the embattled cryptocurrency, followed by five other supposed founding members of the Libra Council. The biggest exit came on Friday, when Mercado Pago, Stripe, eBay, Mastercard, and Visa, all announced they will no longer join Monday's launch meeting.
Before the Geneva talks even kicked off, the seventh initial backer, internet firm Booking, announced its exit from the Calibra Project. Industry experts noted that the fallout with some of the biggest companies in the world could affect the entry of the Libra cryptocurrency into the financial market.
Facebook has faced continued criticism from global regulators and international lawmakers. Finance experts also expressed skepticism about the true benefits of a digital currency that will allow non-banked consumers to make online transactions.
Despite the onslaught of pessimism way ahead of the official launch of Libra, Spotify, one of the remaining 21 supporters of the project, said it is looking forward to the digital money's capacities in empowering "billions of people globally, especially in financially underserved markets."
Calibra Project head, David Marcus, tweeted after the meeting that it was an "awesome day" at the Geneva summit with Council members. Among the remaining members is Lyft ad Uber.
A spokesperson told BBC News that the Libra project's launch set for 2020 was still on track. However, some analysts noted that the official launch of Facebook's highly-contested cryptocurrency still has to overcome global disassociation.
G-7 leaders warned that Libra could disrupt the existing financial systems in global stages and markets. On the other hand, it appears that much has been addressed and accomplished during the first meet-up of the founding council members.
Libra Association spokesperson Dante Disparte revealed that while the search is still on for the project's CEO, the group already has a Chief Operating Officer (COO) in former senior PayPal director, Bertrand Perez.
