In the last two years, Facebook has changed its name to Meta, its cryptocurrency’s name from Libra to Diem, and its digital wallet’s name from Calibra to Novi.

After the death of Diem earlier this year, the social media giant is now sunsetting Novi on 1 September – marking an end to its crypto ambitions.

Novi, first announced as a digital wallet for Libra in the summer of 2020, Novi was launched as a pilot in the US and Guatemala last October to enable fast crypto transactions and help people around the world ‘access affordable financial services’.

On Friday (1 July), however, Meta announced on the Novi website that both the Novi app and Novi on WhatsApp will no longer be available starting 1 September, meaning that users with money in their accounts will not be able to access it directly after that date, or add new cash.

Users in the US and Guatemala can transfer the money to their bank accounts, while those in Guatemala also have the option to get cash “at a nearby withdrawal location”.

“If you have money remaining in your Novi account after the pilot ends on September 1, 2022, we’ll attempt to transfer your balance to the bank account or debit card you’ve added to Novi,” the website reads.

Meta sold all of Diem’s intellectual property and technology assets to Silvergate Bank for $182m in January, following years of setbacks and resistance from regulators.

“We all gave our whole hearts, blood, sweat and tears to what I will always call Libra,” David Marcus, the former Facebook executive who helped create Diem, tweeted at the time.

Marcus left Meta last November after his tenure was marred by the many regulatory setbacks faced by Diem. In May, he announced the launch of his own crypto start-up called Lightspark to “explore, build and extend the capabilities and utility of bitcoin”.

Meta’s crypto dreams may not be over yet. The Financial Times reported in April that the company is planning to introduce a virtual currency (likely not based on the blockchain) for the metaverse, which has been dubbed ‘Zuck Bucks’ by employees.

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