Meta’s first venture into the world of crypto is set to end with the closure of its Novi wallet pilot project in September.
Novi’s website landing page has been revamped to inform pilot users that the platform will be decommissioned by the start of September. This ends n pilot project that saw users based in the United States and Guatemala participate in a trial of the cryptocurrency powered payment platform.
Users are directed to withdraw the remaining funds from their respective Novi wallets to their linked bank accounts. Guatemalan users can also withdraw holdings in cash at a select site in the city.
Novi users are also notified to download their account information before the closing date, including transactions activity on their respective accounts. The closure of the pilot follows some five months after Meta’s stablecoin project Diem was sold to Silvergate Capital Corporation. Diem was set to be the stablecoin that powered the Meta ecosystem and was initially intended to be the native currency of the Novi wallet.
Regulatory pressure in the United States led to Meta selling the intellectual property of Diem to Silvergate, which was set to integrate the underlying blockchain infrastructure and assets into its existing payment platform.
The failure to launch Diem saw Novi make use of the Paxos-powered stablecoin Pax Dollar as its native dollar backed token for payments. American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase teamed up with Novi as its custody partner to manage and store user funds.
Meta’s efforts to integrate cryptocurrencies and stablecoins into its ecosystem have been an difficult journey. Facebook’s parent company rebranded to Meta, while the Diem ecosystem also underwent its own rebranding disaster from Libra following massive pushback from regulators around the world.
