Reportedly, Meta’s first foray into the crypto world will end in September this year. In that month, the Novi-wallet pilot project will be discontinued.
Withdraw funds from the Novi wallet
To inform pilot users that the platform will be discontinued on September 1, everyone will now be informed. For example, the landing page of the website has already been renewed. This ends an 8-month pilot project in which users in Guatemala and the United States (US) tried out the cryptocurrency-powered payment platform.
To ensure that there is no money left in users’ Novi wallets after the project closes, they are already being asked to withdraw all their remaining funds. Guatemalan users can also withdraw their remaining credits in cash if required.
The Diem project has been sold & Novi
About 5 months ago, the Diem stablecoin project was stopped and then sold to the ‘Silvergate Capital Corporation’. Diem is said to be the stablecoin that powered the Meta ecosystem and was initially intended to be the native currency for the Novi wallet.
The main reason for the sale of the intellectual property is the regulatory burden in the US. Silvergate would like to integrate the underlying blockchain infrastructure and assets into all of its existing payment platform.
Since Diem was never launched by Meta, the Novi wallet now uses the Paxos-powered stablecoin called ‘Pax Dollar’ (with the ticker USDP). Popular American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase partnered with Novi as a custodial partner. They managed the user funds and stored them within their infrastructure. However, the project itself has never received official government approval.
Meta’s efforts to integrate cryptocurrencies and stablecoins into its ecosystem are proving to be an immensely arduous journey. Facebook’s parent company turned into Meta, while the Diem ecosystem also went through its own rebranding debacle from Libra after massive pushback from regulators around the world.