Facebook has been working on its Diem cryptocurrency, formerly known as Libra, for a number of years.
The Diem Group notes that the intent of its new brand is to separate the project from Facebook and, probably, from its own troubled history.
A Rebranding to Diem
The name shift is not just stylistic: the rebranding plan of Diem also starts a new process for the project, as it has also attracted new management and leadership.
A variety of lawmakers and business leaders are involved in Diem’s current organization, including former Canadian politician Christy Clark, former U.S. attorney Steve Bunnell, and former VMWare and Microsoft employee Dahlia Malkhi.
While no precise launch date for Diem has been revealed, the project team has indicated that the cryptocurrency would be released in early 2021.
The launch would continue gradually: it will only feature a U.S.-dollar backed stable coin when Diem goes online. Diem can, after that, incorporate collateral dependent on other fiat currencies.
The Diem scheme was postponed by about one year. When it was first revealed in mid-2019, the team claimed that by early 2020, the cryptocurrency will go online.
The History of the Diem Project
Morgan Beller began working on Facebook’s cryptocurrencies and blockchain in 2017 and was originally the only person working on the blockchain project of Facebook.
In May 2018, Facebook vice president David A. Marcus transferred from Facebook Messenger to a new blockchain division.
A few days later, early rumors appeared about Facebook preparing a cryptocurrency with Marcus in charge.
By February 2019, more than 50 developers were operating on the project.
The announcement that a cryptocurrency was planned by Facebook first appeared in May 2019. It was recognized as “GlobalCoin” or “Facebook Coin” at this period.
On June 18, 2019, under the name Libra, the project was publicly announced.
The developers of the coin are identified as Morgan Beller, David Marcus, and Kevin Weil. The first update was scheduled for 2020.
Facebook reported on July 15, 2019, that the currency will not be released until all regulatory challenges have been met and Libra has the “appropriate approvals”.
On September 18, 2019, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told lawmakers in a meeting with top Democratic Senate representatives that Libra will not be introduced anywhere in the world without first receiving permission from United States regulators.
Several businesses quit the Libra Partnership in October 2019: PayPal left on October 4, 2019, eBay, Mastercard, Stripe, Visa, and Mercado Pago followed on October 11, and Booking Holdings on October 14, 2019.
Libra would announce a slimmed-down scheme that involves the cryptocurrency being sponsored by the US dollar one-for-one rather than a several currency set.
The newspaper also announced that Diem, which is Latin for “day” will now be the new name of the cryptocurrency.
It was projected that the currency will be released in 2021.
