Facebook’s attempt to bring cryptocurrency to all of its users has apparently stopped before it really began.
What’s happening: The Diem Association — which Facebook founded in 2019 to build a future payment network — is going to sell its technology to a California bank that works with bitcoin and blockchain companies, The Wall Street Journal reports.
- The bank, named Silvergate Caption, will likely issue some of the stablecoins — which are often seen as safer cryptocurrencies compared to your bitcoins, Dogecoins and Shib coins — in the future, according to WSJ.
Why this matters: Diem Association’s decision to sell its company will make it so that Libra can’t operate.
Flashback: In 2019, Facebook planned to create a cryptocurrency named Libra, The Associated Press reported.
- The plan was for the cryptocurrency to drive e-commerce ventures on its platform.
Yes, but: “The project immediately ran into fierce opposition from policymakers globally, who worried it could erode their control over the money system, enable crime and harm users’ privacy,” per Reuters.
- “It’s a bold and strategic move that has clear risks as well as opportunities tied to it,” said Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives at the time of Libra’s announcement. “This could raise further yellow flags as more regulators focus on Facebook.”
The bottom line: Facebook attempted to bring cryptocurrency to its platform and its users. The selling of Diem shows Facebook and its parent company Meta will leave the crypto game for now. It’s unclear if they will attempt to make a return.