Will Meta's digital currency venture close? The technology will be sold for $ 200 million
Meta Platforms (Facebook) (NASDAQ: FB) has decided to end the activities of the digital currency venture led by the Diem Association and sell the technology developed by the venture to Silvergate Capital Bank (NYSE: SI) from California for about $ 200 million, it was reported on Wednesday.
"Wall Street Journal," according to information he received from a man familiar with the details of the deal.
Meta, formerly Facebook, launched the digital currency venture in June 2019, initially under the name Libra, and later changed its name to Diem. The company introduced the project as part of its efforts to expand its operations beyond social networks and enter the field of online commerce and digital payments.
Right from the start, the digital currency project met with fierce opposition from regulators and politicians around the world, who expressed concern about the possibility that Facebook's currency would undermine countries 'control over financial systems, serve as a tool for money laundering and even infringe on users' privacy.
In an attempt to get regulatory approval, Facebook rebranded the digital currency project, changed its name to "Diam" and the name of the digital wallet it developed for it to "Novi", and also narrowed down the international goals set for the project. Meanwhile, the Diam organization has announced that it intends to issue a stable digital currency (stablecoin) that will be linked to the US dollar.
The Diam venture lost momentum last November with the retirement of Meta's financial technology director, David Marcus, who was one of the venture's founders and was in charge of it from day one on behalf of Facebook.
Meta Platforms and Silvergate Capital Bank did not respond to a report of the transaction, as of the date of publication of the article.