Head of Facebook Financial, David Marcus, says that he hopes the digital asset called ‘Diem’ and Facebook’s wallet known as ‘Novi’ will be introduced to the public in 2021. Before it was renamed, Diem was known as the Libra currency then it was rebranded under the Diem Association, the name was changed. However, due to the criticisms it received from regulators, the release of the Libra coin was halted.
‘I hope that we get to participate with Novi and Diem and the big changes of 2021, pending regulatory approvals where we need to obtain them’, he said.
Since it was announced last year, Facebook’s Libra has been receiving negative feedback from critics in the crypto community. According to the whitepaper, Libra is designed to be handled by a non-profit consortium called the Libra Association.
In a statement, Marcus said that they are asking for immediate trust from the regulators. He said that their project should be given the benefit of the doubt.
‘I think you’d be hard-pressed to find any company that has done this in recent history of actually building something, investing considerable amount of resources into it, and then saying ok, we are going to relinquish our power here and we are going to try to make it as open ecosystem as it can be and basically tie one or both hands in our backs when it comes to enabling competition on the very thing that we’ve created, he said.
‘I think all of those things that we’ve done — which has created all kinds of complications in the execution of this vision — is I think a good reason to give us the benefit of the doubt in terms of our intentions and what we plan to do here, he continued.
Meanwhile, the recent rebranding of the coin on December 1, 2020, also garnered a lot of issues. This move will show the coin’s independence from Facebook in order to get the approval of the regulators.
According to the Diem Association CEO, Stuart Levy, the Diem will usher innovation among consumers and businesses in order to enable cheap and efficient transactions.
‘The Diem project will provide a simple platform for fintech innovation to thrive and enable consumers and businesses to conduct instantaneous, low-cost, highly secure transactions’, the CEO said.
‘The original name was tied to an early iteration of the project that received a difficult reception from regulators. We have dramatically changed that proposition’, Levy added.
Libra’s new name, Diem, means day in Latin. It aims to launch as a stablecoin backed by the US dollar.
Levy cleared that they are not trying to cut ties from Facebook. He said that the rebranding suggests the project’s independence.
‘We are not trying to cut all ties, by any stretch. It (the name change) is to signify that the association is operating autonomously and independently’.