Meta (ex-Facebook) is shutting down its work on the crypto project Diem and is considering options to sell its related assets.
Meta is considering options to sell intellectual property owned by Diem Association. It was reported by Bloomberg, citing informed sources. The company’s main asset is the crypto project Diem and related developments.
The proceeds from the assets sale will be used to return investments to the investors. It also became known that the employees who worked on Diem transferred to suitable vacancies in other Meta’s projects. Earlier, David Marcus, the head of Meta’s payment division, who supervised the development of the digital wallet Novi, had already left the Diem project.
The Meta crypto project, formerly known as Facebook Coin and Libra, faced criticism and regulatory pressure immediately after its announcement in 2019. The original plan was to develop a stablecoin tied to a basket of national currencies. Still, regulators were concerned about the emergence of an out-of-control financial instrument within Facebook with its vast audience.
Amid pressure, the project changed its name to Diem and modified its concept several times. But at the end of 2021, against the background of information about Novi’s testing, representatives of the Democratic Party again demanded to curtail the development.
However, Diem’s closure does not cancel Meta’s other initiatives related to the cryptocurrency sphere. Thus, the corporation’s plans for 2022 focused on accelerating developments in blockchain technology. Meta is also preparing the launch of its own NFT-marketplace and is testing tools for working with digital assets integrated into WhatsApp.
