Oct 11, 2019 - Technology

More companies drop out of Facebook-led cryptocurrency plan

Photo: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Visa, Mastercard, eBay and Stripe have followed in PayPal's footsteps and decided not to go forward with their participation in Libra, the digital currency network spearheaded by Facebook, according to CNBC.

Why it matters: Facebook spent more than a year quietly working on the project, and rallied 27 organizations to tentatively agree to participate. However, the Libra Association has faced an avalanche of criticism and scrutiny from regulators worldwide, though it's done little more than publish its plans. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to testify on the topic in front of the House Financial Services Committee on Oct. 23.

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Dion Rabouin, author of Markets
1 hour ago - Economy & Business

Coronavirus surge is sinking consumer confidence

Data: Hamilton Place Strategies, CivicScience; Chart: Axios Visuals

The rise in coronavirus cases in certain parts of the U.S. is stunting confidence across the country, a crop of new reports show.

Driving the news: After stalling during the previous two-week period, overall economic sentiment declined for the first time in two months, according to the Economic Sentiment Index, a biweekly survey from data firm CivicScience and Hamilton Place Strategies (HPS).

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Axios
Updated 2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Politics: Obama: Trump is "jealous of COVID's media coverage."
  2. Health: Mask mandates help control the rise in coronavirus hospitalizations. Hospitals face a crush.
  3. Business: Coronavirus testing is a windfall. Winter threat spurs new surge of startup activity.
  4. Media: Pandemic causes TV providers to lose the most subscribers ever.
  5. World: Putin mandates face masks.
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Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei
3 hours ago - Politics & Policy

The GOP's monstrous math problem

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Republicans, win or lose next week, face a big — and growing — math problem.

The state of play: They're relying almost exclusively on a shrinking demographic (white men), living in shrinking areas (small, rural towns), creating a reliance on people with shrinking incomes (white workers without college degrees) to survive.

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