Facebook’s Libra has had a tough year, and it seems that repeated efforts to restructure the Libra project has not been entirely successful for the company. Instead, Libra is focusing more on rebranding efforts in recent months in hopes that the project proceeds, by shedding the Libra moniker from other parts of the company and its products.
In a press release, Libra shared that its Libra Association, the consortium of well-known organizations, institutions and businesses that form its base support system, will be changing its name to ‘Diem’. Moreover, the newly renamed association is expecting the addition of several “world-class experts” to help drive Libra past regulatory obstacles and obtain necessary approvals from authorities.
These individuals include Kiran Raj, Dahlia Malkhi, Christy Clarke and Steve Bunnel in various leading positions, and they add to an already high-profile team comprising CEO Stuart Levy, Managing Director James Emmett and other notable figures.
The announcement comes after news of a limited Libra launch was unveiled a few days ago, as it seems that Libra is finally inching closer to an actual release date. According to sources, Libra is intending to roll out a USD-pegged version of a stablecoin to the market, which puts it in direct competition with other already existing stablecoins backed by the USD, such as Circle’s USD Coin.
This is certainly a much more truncated version of Libra’s original proposal of a unifying global digital stablecoin, and is also far from its second proposal, which included multiple single-currency digital stablecoins each backed by its equivalent in fiat currency.
Previously, Libra’s accompanying digital wallet Calibra was renamed as Novi as well to avoid confusion between the wallet and its stablecoin products.
No dates have yet been confirmed, but seeing that Libra is moving with greater momentum ahead, we may see Libra released early next year.
