I've got to wonder if Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, Stripe and others got involved with this on the principle "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer"? Facebook is too big to just crush, so you need a smarter approach.

By initially supporting Libra, they got to find out FB's plans, get access to a bunch of market research and see what kind of hurdles they would face if they wanted to launch their own version of the same thing. Then by backing out at the 11th hour, they're able to undermine Libra's credibility before it gets started and make it look like a doomed project.