On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Meta Platforms Inc’s (FB.O) digital currency venture Diem Association is winding down and selling its technology to California-based Silvergate Capital Corp (SI.N) for about $200 million.
Diem, formerly known as Libra, was first announced by Meta, formerly Facebook Inc, in June 2019 to expand beyond social networking into e-commerce and global payments.
The project was met with immediate opposition from policymakers worldwide, who were concerned that it would erode their control over the financial system, enable crime, and compromise users’ privacy.
To gain regulatory approval, Facebook renamed its digital coin ‘Diem’ and reduced its global ambition to focus on the United States by announcing the launch of a US dollar stablecoin, which are cryptocurrencies pegged to a traditional currency.
Facebook’s financial technology executive David Marcus, overseeing the company’s efforts to develop Diem, recently left the company to work on something new. find out more
Outside of business hours, Meta and Silvergate did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
