Silicon Valley giant Facebook aims to launch its first cryptocurrency Diem this year, which originally started as the Libra project in 2019. Focusing its main operations on the United States, the digital currency will be pegged to the US dollar.
Diem Association plans to withdraw its application for a payment system licence in Switzerland where it currently operates. The association will instead register with the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The withdrawal of the application was confirmed by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.
‘Diem is planning to launch the payment system from the USA in the first phase because initially, the project will focus on the USA as its target market,’ the institution stated on its website on May 12.
In partnership with Silvergate Capital Corporation in California, Diem Association said that the stablecoin will be issued and managed by the bank corporation. Moreover, one of Diem Association’s units, Diem Networks US, intends to run a blockchain-based payment system that will support the real-time transfer of the Diem coins.
Although the specific date of the stablecoin’s launch is yet to be announced, the digital currency will allow users to make purchases and conduct transactions between individuals, as reported by CNBC on April 21.
‘We are committed to a payment system that is safe for consumers and businesses, makes payments faster and cheaper,’ the association said.
Experts believe that the new cryptocurrency will do well in the market as Diem Association is backed by major companies including Facebook, Uber, Spotify, and Shopify.
‘What you get with an institution like Facebook backing a stablecoin is much better distribution. You can put it into apps, add it to a lot of other places and I think that will be strong,’ blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis CEO Michael Gronager stated.
‘We’ll see when it launches how it’s going to play out but already today a lot of the interest in crypto is also speculative. It will basically enable more people to easily get into crypto.’
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