Stablecoin crypto Diem shuns its Facebook connection ๐จ This article is 3 years old...
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Stablecoin crypto Diem shuns its Facebook connection
Despite the concerns of US lawmakers, Diem continued with the launch of the Novi wallet whilst distancing itself from Facebook.
2 min read
Updated: Oct. 25, 2021 at 9:20 am UTC
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Diem, a Facebook-backed crypto project, has responded to attempts by the United States Senate to shut the launch of its Novi wallet by distancing itself from the social media giant.
The crypto project, yesterday, launched the Novi wallet which would โhelp people send and receive money abroad instantly, securely, and with no fees.โ However, this was met with stiff opposition from the US lawmakers who wrote an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg to discontinue the digital wallet project.
In the letter signed by members of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, they revealed that this is their โstrongest opposition to Facebookโs revived effort to launch a cryptocurrency and digital wallet,โ while urging Facebook โto immediately discontinue ย Novi pilot and to commit that you will not bring Diem to market.โ
Interestingly, the Novi wallet launch continued despite the hostilities from the senate as it is currently listed on Apple and Googleโs app stores for download.
Diem says it is not Facebook
Diem in its response to the letter by the Senators stated that the legislators might have misunderstood โthe relationship between Diem and Facebook.โ While also revealing that the social media entity and the crypto project were two entirely different organizations.
According to the press release, โDiem is not Facebook. We are an independent organization, and Facebookโs Novi is just one of more than two dozen members of the Diem Association. Noviโs pilot with Paxos is unrelated to Diem.โ
The press release continued that โDiemโs blockchain-based payment system has been purpose-built for payments, and that is why we have prioritized consumer safety, financial stability, and combating financial crime. Furthermore, our independence is designed to foster competition and interoperability in payments.โ
While all of this might sound like the right words, Diem is still linked to Facebook in more ways than one.
For example, the Diem Stablecoin project is being led by one of Facebookโs top executives in the person of David Marcus who is the social media giantโs Financial head.
Apart from this, the project is a brainchild of Facebook as it was developed internally in 2018 before it was shelved. However, since then, the Instagram parent company has made several partnerships to keep the project flying.
Author 
Oluwapelumi Adejumo
Oluwapelumi values Bitcoin's potential. He imparts insights on a range of topics like DeFi, hacks, mining and culture, underlining transformative power.
