Meta to close Novi digital wallet

Meta decided not to proceed with a full launch of the Novi digital wallet and announced the project’s closure after the pilot testing ended on 1 September 2022.

Withdraw your funds before the Novi pilot ends on September 1. For more information, visit the Novi Help Center: https://t.co/gvRBl4AdDt pic.twitter.com/WR0YLae5hX

— Novi (@novi) June 30, 2022

Starting July 21, users will lose the ability to top up balances, and in September the Novi app and the eponymous service on WhatsApp will cease to operate. Account holders were advised to withdraw their assets themselves.

«If you have money left in your Novi account after the pilot project ends, we will attempt to transfer your funds to the bank account or debit card you linked to the account,» the statement said.

After the project’s closure, users will also lose access to their transaction data, so Meta advised exporting this information via the appropriate option in the digital wallet settings.

According to CoinDesk, the company intends to use Novi-related work in future projects, including metaverse-oriented initiatives.

News of Meta’s plans (then Facebook) to launch its own cryptocurrency emerged in 2018.

In mid-June 2019, the company announced the launch of a global stablecoin, Libra.

To manage the payment network, a nonprofit organization, Libra Association, was created. Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Uber, Spotify, Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase were named among its members.

The project raised concerns among regulators, and in July hearings on it were held in the U.S. Senate Banking Committee.

In October it emerged that payment firms Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Stripe were not rushing to sign the official documents of participation in the Libra Association due to regulatory concerns. Subsequently they withdrew from the project.

In 2020 the corporation abandoned the original concept and renamed the digital wallet from Calibra to Novi, and the stablecoin to Diem. The consortium behind the project renamed the name to Diem Association.

Despite numerous announcements, the project never launched.

In January 2022, the Diem Association announced the sale of Silvergate Capital Corporation’s intellectual property and other assets related to the management of the stablecoin.

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