Meta-Backed Cryptocurrency Diem Calls it Quits After Selling its $200 Million Assets to Silvergate

Joseph Henry, Tech Times 31 January 2022, 10:01 pm

Diem, a known cryptocurrency project which Mark Zuckerberg and Meta want, to develop is finally over.

According to the latest report, the company confirmed that it now officially sold its assets to crypto-centered bank Silvergate. The latter has a history of collaborating with the Diem Association for the project.

The Facebook-backed firm noted that it's now in the process of winding down following the previous reports about sales discussions.

Mark Zuckerberg's Crypto Project Dream Ends

Meta-Backed Cryptocurrency Diem Calls it Quits After Selling its $200 Million Assets to Silvergate

(Photo : Dima Solomin from Unsplash)
Diem, a known cryptocurrency project which Mark Zuckerberg and Meta want to develop is finally over.

Last week, Tech Times reported that Meta's crypto project was now on the verge of exiting the market. With that, the Diem coin might not be seen anymore in the investment firms meaning that it wouldn't push through its operations anymore in the future.

It turned out that this initial report hinted at what was really going to happen after a few days. Engadget wrote in its latest story that the sale involving Diem was now official.

As a matter of fact, this recent sell-off is a nail in the coffin for Mark Zuckerberg's crypto venture which focuses on releasing a stablecoin after over two years.

Regarding his crypto ambitions, we could remember Zuckerberg's message during the 2019 hearing in Congress.

According to the social media boss, he believed that something should be built following his statement he's not the "ideal messenger" for the project right now.

Libra Stablecoin

Before becoming Diem Association, the group adopted the name of Libra Association. Its stablecoin at that time was also named after it. However, as The Verge mentioned in its report, several regulators from some parts of the world have opposed its implementation.

Here's to yet another chapter with a maybe more "acceptable" promoter driving the vision forward. There will be ample time in the future for me to properly reflect on the behavior of certain politicians and regulators along the way, but for now... onward!
— David Marcus (@davidmarcus) January 31, 2022

As a result, the project which Zuckerberg and the organization wanted to push through faced several delays. In addition, the officials said that they were concerned about Diem's "controversial" stance which might spark illicit activities such as money laundering and others.

Per Stuart Levey, the CEO of Diem, the collapse of the organization should be blamed on the US regulators. He also added that the association aimed to promote consumer protection and fight financial crime by decreasing industry-related risks.

Levey said that the regulators gave Diem positive feedback for the network design. However, he later thought that regulators wanted to stop the project immediately.

Weighing the options, he continued that it's best for Diem to sell its assets to Silvergate.

Facebook NFT Wallet Novi

Since Diem's assets were now transferred to the crypto-focused bank, the fate for Novi is still unknown. Facebook's cryptocurrency wallet conducted a pilot in 2021 with the Pax Dollar stablecoin.

David Marcus, who was the crypto chief of the company at that time, stated that Facebook really wanted to launch Diem. After sharing his statement a month later, he stepped out of the office.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Joseph Henry