The Block: U.S. Treasury Secretary says firms dropped out of Libra as it's not "up to par" with regulatory standards

In an interview with CNBC, Steven Mnuchin, the U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary, expresses his thoughts on the recent exodus of companies from Facebook's blockchain project, Libra.

Mnuchin tells CNBC that he has met with "representatives of Libra multiple times." During those meetings, he has been clear with them that the U.S. government "would take enforcement actions against them," if Libra and its participants "don't meet...our money laundering standards and the standards that we have at FinCEN."

"And I think they realized that they’re not ready, they’re not up to par. And I assume some of the partners got concerned and dropped out until they meet those standards," Mnuchin concludes.

On Friday, five firms (Mercado Pago, Visa, eBay, Stripe, and Mastercard), announced their departure from the Libra Association and the Libra project. The five firms' decision to leave came a week after PayPal announced its exit.

Earlier last week, two U.S. Senators, Sherrod Brown and Brian Schatz, had sent letters to Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe, asking them to reconsider their partnership with Libra.