Two years ago, Facebook’s sponsored cryptocurrency formerly known as Libra was first introduced, but now it appears to be coming to an end. After meeting resistance by regulators who have chosen to oppose the initiative, The Diem Association set up by Facebook to manage every affair regarding the digital token is exploring a sale of its assets.
According to a new report by Bloomberg, all effort by Silvergate, a banking partner Diem partnered with to launch the token was nipped in the bud by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Reports say the Fed went as far as to threaten Silvergate, in a bid to put the launch on ice. A Diem spokesperson, Michael Crittenden, confirms that the new report provided key details of “some factual errors.” He however declined to comment further.
Speculations are already questioning Diem’s decision to sell off assets, some came to the conclusion that if indeed the organization is selling assets that may be a great indication that the cryptocurrency initiative is unable to find a way forward. Libra was originally designed as a simplified digital token that is meant to be backed by a basket of currencies from around the world. However, regulators have chosen quickly to abort that idea from taking flight, well probably not because they thought that it wasn’t good enough.
Other recent signs that have surfaced are indicators that Diem may actually not see the light of day lying around. First, a digital wallet originally built for the Diem coin was recently launched by Facebook, now rebranded as Meta, but instead with another stablecoin from Paxos. The executive who originally birthed Libra and led the digital wallet initiative, David Marcus, last year left the company after a majority of other founding teams supporting the project left. The cryptocurrency Mark Zuckerburg once defend has finally bitten the dust after much regulatory pressure.