- The Libra Association has rebranded to the Diem Association
- The name change seems to be an attempt to remove direct connection to the Libra name
- The Libra Association and Libra coin itself have changed hugely since the whitepaper in 2019
The Libra Association, the consortium of companies created by Facebook to oversee its Libra cryptocurrency, has rebranded to the Diem Association. The rebranded group will oversee the launch of the token, mooted for January next year, which will look very different to the all-conquering global cryptocurrency announced by Facebook in June last year. The name change seems to be an attempt to move away from Facebook and give an air of distance to avoid the allegations of impartiality that have dogged it since its inception.
Libra Association Seeks Public Facebook Divorce
The Libra Association was announced at the same time as the Libra cryptocurrency itself, back in June 2019. It was billed as a separate entity, an impartial group of backers who would help create the payment system backing the Libra cryptocurrency.
Initially it boasted an impressive roster of companies backing the project, including Visa, eBay, Stripe, Mastercard, and PayPal. Within four months however rumors were circling that PayPal was considering leaving the project due to the negativity surrounding Facebook’s plans for the cryptocurrency. The payment processor duly left, followed by a mass exodus of five other big-name companies just a week later.
Fast forward 18 months and the Libra Association looks very different. A turnover of backers and personnel and now a name change leaves the association looking markedly different than it did in 2019. Diem Association CEO Stuart Levey said in a statement that the new name “signals the project’s growing maturity and independence”, illustrating further their aims to be seen as independent overseers of the Libra project.
Project Looking a Shell of Its Original Vision
The cryptocurrency itself will be virtually recognizable when it launches, with suggestions emerging this week that this could be as soon as January 2021. The Libra concept was initially launched as a token backed by a basket of currencies that would be used globally. This has since been watered down to a Facebook-only token (at first) backed only by the US dollar. These changes have been implemented in order to make the concept more palatable for regulators, whose backlash led to fallouts between Facebook and the Libra Association.
