Facebook launches its digital wallet Novi
Facebook started by subtracting Small demo of its digital wallet Novi in the US and Guatemala, more than two years after it was first announced.
The beta program allows users to send and receive money instantly, securely and without fees using the Paxos stablecoin. in partnership With Coinbase (which serves as the custodian partner that holds the actual funds).
According to David Marcus, President of F2, the pilot program aims to test core feature functionality and operational capabilities in customer care and compliance, as well as attempt to demonstrate the practical use of stablecoins for payments.
However, the big note is the launch of Novi without its biggest advantage of the Facebook-backed Diem cryptocurrency that was supposed to be the cornerstone of the project.
Diem was previously known as Libra, before the name was changed in an effort to keep her away from Facebook. But Diem is still facing regulatory approval and has yet to launch its cryptocurrency in any country.
Libra was heavily criticized when it was first announced. Several major partners (including PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, eBay, Stripe, and Mercado Pago) pulled out of the project just a few months after it was announced.
The company recently moved its operations back to the United States after halting plans to obtain regulatory approval for its stablecoin in Switzerland.
Read also: Facebook struggles with trust as it prepares to launch Novi
Facebook Hasn’t Released Diem Cryptocurrency
Reports earlier this year said that Diem plans to launch a single US-based stablecoin linked to the dollar. This is rather than the broader scale that the company originally planned. But this coin was not ready in conjunction with the experience of Novi.
In his announcement, Marcus noted that Novi remains committed to Diem. It is released with the cryptocurrency when it is published. However, the announcement does not provide any update on when this will happen.
The new launch marks how much the scale and size of Novi and Diem have shrunk since the company’s original announcement. It also defines how far the company has to go to achieve its goal of creating a mainstream cryptocurrency.
