Libra to be renamed Diem in preparation for launching USD stablecoin in 2021

On Tuesday, the Libra Association, the management organization of the Libra stablecoin project advocated by social media giant Facebook, announced that it will be renamed Diem and prepare to launch a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar in 2021.

The organization said that the new name means "Day" in Latin, and hopes that the organization will enter a new stage after the name change. It said, "The Diem Association will continue to pursue the establishment of a safe, reliable and compliant payment system that can be used by people and businesses around the world."

Stuart Levey, CEO of the Diem Association, said, “We are excited to introduce Diem to everyone. This new name signifies the maturity and independence of this project.”

The name change will further weaken the relationship between the organization and social media giant Facebook. Previously, Facebook's subsidiary Calibra, which was involved in the development of digital wallets, has been renamed Novi. The decoupling from Facebook is considered an important step for the new Diem Association to seek regulatory approval.

“I think the stakeholders on the regulatory side do welcome a more autonomous association,” Levey said. “They want to see an association that is strong enough to make its own decisions and have a leadership team that can guide the project.”

Once the new entity obtains a license from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), its first US dollar stablecoin "Diem" will be able to be launched. As Bitpush reported last week, the stablecoin will be launched as early as January 2021.

Levey did not give a timetable for the launch of the stablecoin, but said that when Diem launches, it will comply with international regulations at the protocol level, which means complying with regulations such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)'s "travel rule" and having other features such as consumer protection.

In addition, the organization is still in contact with regulators around the world to communicate on the scope of circulation of each token and which fiat currency it will be pegged to.

Levey said the project is technically ready to launch, but developers are continuing to test and iterate on the design, and the project will still use blockchain technology.

He stressed, “We believe blockchain has advantages in terms of technology and governance. It allows for innovation and collaboration in the open source space, which we believe increases the real potential of the entire project.”

Image source: Diem

AuthorLiang Che

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