Before rebranding into Meta Facebook started its own sort of stablecoin project called Libra. It faced a lot of criticism not only from politicians but also from society. Too many times Facebook failed to meet its obligations in terms of user privacy and data protection. This raised the concern that it could be a bad if not even a dangerous idea to hand over the financial data of millions of people to a company that failed its customers several times.

After shutting down Diem earlier this year now the Novi app will be discontinued.

Libra, Diem, and Novi

The reason why Libra faced so much resistance from politicians is that it was meant to resemble a basket of currencies rather than being a stablecoin that is pegged to a single currency. Especially in the US, many feared that this could have challenged the status of the US-Dollar as the de facto world’s reserve currency.

But Libra and the so-called Libra Association, a consortium of different global players quickly adapted. Some members left the association while others kept building what was going to become Diem. A rebranding that was meant to reflect that the new product would rather focus on remittance and payments.

Novi on the other hand was a mobile wallet and payment application that was integrated into WhatsApp. But it seems that those plans have also failed. Starting from July 21st users of Novi won’t be able to fund their accounts and are advised to withdraw the remaining balance.

Meta is still committed to Web3

Libra, Diem, and Novi are history. And so is Facebook’s name and Meta being the future. The company has failed to enter the banking and payment sector since there was too much resistance. But make no mistake, Web3 will play an important role in Meta’s plans for the future.

Meta is quite literally committed to becoming the most important hub in the metaverse and Web3 as well as its associated technologies are important. Recently the company introduced NFTs on Facebook and according to Bloomberg, the Novi technology will still play an important role.

It seems that Meta is planning to use Novis blockchain tech to connect with the rest of Web3 and start to host its own products, such as digital collectibles. In conclusion, Meta has left payments and banking but is still active when it comes down to using crypto for other purposes.