We can’t blame you if you forgot about Facebook’s Libra project. The blockchain-based ZuckBuck scheme is the basis for a future payment/scam gateway, but not much has come out of the platform in the past few years… until now. In fact, the fintech giant is proud to announce that the platform has taken the bold and exciting step of changing its name.
That’s right, friends: the Libra Association is now the Diem Association. Diem as in Latin for “day.” Wild.
From the release:
The Libra Association announces the adoption of a new name and the recruitment of key executives, reinforcing its organizational independence as it progresses toward regulatory approval for launch. Now transitioning to the name “Diem”, which denotes a new day for the project, the Diem Association will continue to pursue a mission of building a safe, secure and compliant payment system that empowers people and businesses around the world.
The Diem/Libra cryptocurrency consists of little more than a lot of ideas and, as Bloomberg notes, some rudimentary code, but that isn’t stopping the association from boldly renaming itself in the middle of the biggest crypto bull run in recent memory.
To be clear, the Diem Association is the organisation tasked with figuring out how to convince federal governments to accept the cryptocurrency. Interestingly, the planned cryptocurrency associated with the association has changed over the past year and has collapsed from being pegged to a basket of fiat currencies. Diem will instead peg the currency to the U.S. dollar, a move that shows that the team is drastically reducing the product’s scope.
We’ve reached out to the Diem press office but they did not reply at press time.
What does this mean for you and me? Not much, really. If Diem is ever launched — and there are rumours that it will begin trading it next year — then you’ll probably never actually see it in action. The best use case for this cryptocurrency is cross-border settlement, which would let users to send and store the cryptocurrency internationally, thereby allowing them to become their own banks and/or get robbed. That said, you’ll probably still get dinged on transfer costs, and while Diem will definitely save Facebook and other corporate partners money on transfers and invoicing, there is little expectation it will do anything for the average user.
So there you have it: bold lateral moves from one of the biggest names in crypto. Seize the diem, HODLers.