Facebook renames crypto project 'libra' to 'diem'

Facebook is one of the big names in the tech world that is gradually expanding its influence in the financial sector. The company already has two payment services of its own with Facebook Pay and WhatsApp Pay, but has even been working on its own currency since last year. That currency should take a leading role in the financial world and also include millions of people who currently do not have access to banking services in the financial system.

That coin was named libra and initially there was quite a bit of interest from industry to participate as well. That interest calved rather quickly. In just one week last year, Mastercard, Visa and PayPal turned their backs on the project. There was also suspicion from central banks. "It is a real attempt by big companies to play the role of central banks," said an ECB board member.

Behind the scenes, however, Facebook has not given up on rigorously working on the currency, which will be pegged to the U.S. dollar. Except that the little beast is getting a new name: "diem. According to the common explanation, "diem" is the Latin word for "day," as in "carpe diem. Remarkably, though, Facebook then chose the fourth noun form of the word. Indeed, in its most basic form, 'day' in Latin is 'dies'. Saliently, diem is again an anagram of 'dime,' a ten-dollar coin.

It is widely believed that Facebook chose a new name to deal with its tainted past, a past that spans less than two years. According to its creators, the diem does more justice to the concerns of regulators, one of the distinguished reasons why things quickly went wrong with the libra. Unlike other crypto currencies, the diem will not be as volatile because it is pegged to the dollar. Facebook is expected to launch the coin in early 2021.