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Meta’s crypto project seems to be dead in the water
No one was buying into this project and regulators were quick to shut it down.
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UPDATE 2/1/2022 10:36 AM ET: As part of a $200 million deal, Diem Association has sold its intellectual property (and related assets related to the operation of Diem Payment Network) to crypto-oriented bank Silvergate.
Meta’s crypto project, previously named Libra, may never actually materialize. In addition, investors who are tied to the project may be looking to offload it in a sale of its assets, reports Bloomberg.
Libra coin, now called Diem coin, was destined to fail from the start. At the time, Facebook (now Meta) announced its plans to join the crypto world when just about every company had the bright idea of creating its own form of cryptocurrency. Similar to what is currently going on with the metaverse.
US lawmakers weren’t buying the plan and immediately called Mark Zuckerberg to testify in front of the House Financial Services Committee. Due to regulatory scrutiny, several partners pulled out of the project. Consequently, this led Libra to rebrand the project to The Diem Association.
And to make matters worse, US regulators told Silvergate Bank, the financial institution issuing the Diem coin, it didn’t feel comfortable with the project and couldn’t promise it would allow them to move forward with its plans. Per the Bloomberg report:
In November, the federal watchdogs finally made it clearer what they were after. Stablecoin issuers should be regulated banks if the tokens are to be used as a means of buying and selling things, the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets said in a report. The group of regulators said they feared what might happen if a vast network of a tech company’s users suddenly began transacting in a new currency, and that combining a stablecoin issuer with a big corporation “could lead to an excessive concentration of economic power.”
As it stands, Meta’s plans for its stable coin could potently be dead in the water, unless someone with half a brain comes in and scoops it up.
READ MORE: Jack Dorsey says Mark Zuckerberg wasted his time on Meta’s crypto project
Now, the question remains: Who’s going to step up and buy into this project? Someone has to buy it, right? And if not, what happens to all the developers who spent the past three years working on it? Who knows, but the world is probably better off without it.
UPDATE 1/27/2022 10:43 AM ET: It looks like the Diem Association found a buyer. Diem Association is selling its technology to Silvergate Capital for $200 million, reports the Wall Street Journal.
UPDATE 2/1/2022 10:36 AM ET: As part of a $200 million deal, Diem Association has sold its intellectual property (and related assets related to the operation of Diem Payment Network) to crypto-oriented bank Silvergate.
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Editors’ Recommendations:
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