Tag: Diem

Facebook Rebrands to Meta, Seeking to Develop the Metaverse

by Blockchain News

The pioneering social media giant, Facebook Inc, has rebranded its name to Meta as it seeks to foster the development of the metaverse, a term made popular by the current craze in the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) ecosystem.

As announced by the company, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg introduced the new outfit, the umbrella term under which Facebook, Instagram, and the rest of the company’s apps will operate.

Facebook said the change of name would not impact how it handles its user’s data, but it noted that it would change the model in which it reports its financials. 

“Our corporate structure is not changing, however, how we report on our financials will. Starting with our results for the fourth quarter of 2021, we plan to report on two operating segments: Family of Apps and Reality Labs. We also intend to start trading under the new stock ticker we have reserved, MVRS, on December 1,”

Meta said in its name, unveiling that the company seeks to push its broader focus into developing the metaverse so that it connects online social experiences and the physical world. Even though the approach is still in its infancy, Non-Fungible Token projects have advanced these surreal metaphysical experiences for users in the past year.

While Meta’s pursuits are most prominent in the Virtual and Augmented Realities areas, the name change can be a springboard for the company to go all out on NFTs. The company recently launched its Novi wallet and announced the capabilities of the wallet to integrate NFTs. Going by the company’s deep pocket, securing the interest of digital artists who can utilize the wallet through a form of incentive will not be an arduous task.

Since the growth of the metaverse is partly dependent on digital currencies, revisiting its estranged Diem cryptocurrency project may be one of the company’s plans in the mid to long term.

Image source: Shutterstock

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Diem tells Senators on the warpath over Novi: We’re not actually Facebook

by Cointelegraph

Stablecoin project Diem has distanced itself from Facebook in response to senators calling for the immediate cessation of the firm’s Novi crypto wallet.

Diem also claimed senior regulators had called it “the best-designed stablecoin project that the U.S. government had seen.”

In a Tuesday letter sent to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the senators, including crypto critic Elizabeth Warren, voiced their “strongest opposition to Facebook’s revived effort to launch a cryptocurrency and digital wallet.”

Earlier that day, the Novi wallet was launched in partnership with Coinbase, with a pilot in the United States and Guatemala to enable users to buy, send and receive Pax Dollars (USDP) through their Novi account.

Diem’s response to the letter stated the senators had misunderstood the “relationship between Diem and Facebook” while also distancing itself from the Novi wallet pilot:

“Diem is not Facebook. We are an independent organization, and Facebook’s Novi is just one of more than two dozen members of the Diem Association. Novi’s pilot with Paxos is unrelated to Diem.”

While technically true, the argument may not be enough to squash the concerns of the U.S. senators.

Diem was formerly known as Libra and has strong ties to the social media giant, as the stablecoin project was initially proposed by Facebook in 2017, and Facebook financial head David Marcus is also a co-founder and a board member of Diem.

In their letter, the senators asserted that Facebook “cannot be trusted,” as the firm has made several moves that ultimately “harmed its users and the broader society.” It also said there has not been “a satisfactory explanation for how Diem will prevent illicit financial flows and other criminal activity.”

Related: Top engineers working on Facebook’s wallet jump ship to A16z’s crypto fund

Diem defended itself by claiming it has the “most robust controls in the industry.”

“Beyond financial crime compliance, we engaged extensively with an inter-agency regulatory team about the design of the project. As part of that review, we made adjustments to reflect feedback we received, and we were informed by a senior regulator that Diem is the best-designed stablecoin project that the U.S. government had seen,” Diem said.

Diem concluded by saying that when the stablecoin project finally launches, it will do so with “confidence that Diem’s payment system is secure, will protect consumers, and will combat financial crime.”