DIEM, not Libra - Facebook's cryptocurrency is changing its name

A few weeks before official implementation, a cryptocurrency endorsed by Facebook changed its name. It will no longer be Libra, but Diem. The design team decided that the previous name, around which there was a lot of controversy, had bad associations and decided to change it.

The beginning of December brought a big surprise on the cryptocurrency market. Everyone is still living with the information that in January the Facebook cryptocurrency will hit the market. You are done designing, testing and practically all of the experiments in the user environment. Had it not been for the coronavirus pandemic, Libra would have made its debut later this year because everything is ready. But it will not make its debut not only this year, or even next. It turned out that it was decided to change the name unexpectedly. Libra Association ends its life, and the Diem Association was created in its place. The cryptocurrency itself is to be called Diem - a word known especially to young people who are already studying in high school about the saying Carpe Diem (Latin. seize the day). The new cryptocurrency is to be associated with happiness, fun and everyday life.

Controversy around the Facebook cryptocurrency

Libra did not have "good press" long before it was created. Objections to the project even when it was in its initial stage were voiced by representatives of central banks and politicians - especially in the US - who are still afraid that the new cryptocurrency may shake not only the power of the dollar, but the entire American economy, still not realizing that the blockchain revolution will not be possible stop now and you can either join the winners or stay behind and not use the latest technology.

However, the voice of politicians is important for representatives of the largest companies, whose hegemony often depends on their single decision. Therefore, after the first criticism of American politicians, representatives of the largest companies began to be very careful not to step on the footprints not only of regulators and continue to successfully run their basic businesses. Visa and Mastercard withdrew from the project. 

Payment giants were informally threatened with increased checks, and this was enough to cool their enthusiasm for participating in the new project. On the other hand, there were also rumors that Visa and Mastercard had signed up to an association building a new means of payment only to observe the movements of emerging competition and control its development in order to adequately respond to the changing market environment. Regardless of the facts, seven of the 28 members initially planned withdrew before signing the agreement.

Then, on the Libra issue, the US Congress held a hearing of Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The financial commission asked the businessman not only difficult questions, there were also suggestions referring to the allegedly negative impact of Libra on the financial market, as well as the entire US economy. Despite Mark Zuckerberg's assurances that it would be exactly the opposite, the distaste remained. A message was sent out to the world that Libra is something not entirely clear and perhaps dangerous. This was how some people who were completely unrelated to the world of modern finance and did not understand blockchain technology perceived it. 

Diem instead of Libra

Undoubtedly, people who enter "Libra" in the search engine for the first time could have a bad association with the new project. There is no shortage of controversy around the project, and it is not important that the reservations - even if justified - are formulated definitely prematurely, because we do not know much about how the new cryptocurrency will be used.

Hence the idea to change the name. Diem will undoubtedly avoid some associations, and the company emphasizes that this is not just a Facebook project. The founding act was signed, among others, by representatives of companies: Coinbase, Uber, PayU, Spotify, Vodafone, Xapo, Anchorage, Bison Trails, Andreessen Horowitz, Farfetch, Illiad, Ribbit Capital, Kiva, Lyft and Mercy Corps.