From Libra to Diem: Facebook-Backed Crypto Project Changes Name

Goodbye Libra and hello Diem.

Facebook’s cryptocurrency project on Tuesday (Dec. 1) unveiled a new name as it seeks to put some distance between itself and its powerful but controversial Big Tech sponsor.

Taking a page from one of the world’s oldest languages, the Libra Association will now call itself the Diem Association, after the Latin word for “day.”

Along with a new name, the Diem Association is also asserting its independence, a move that comes after concerns raised by regulators around the world about Facebook’s cryptocurrency project — specifically, the potentially negative impacts like the weakening of central banks as well as money laundering and privacy violations.

Diem Networks will operate the actual payments system, which will oversee a new currency called the Diem Dollar.

Along with the name change, the Diem Association also announced a bevy of top executive hires, filling a number of key compliance and legal positions.

The name change and the hires are aimed at “reinforcing its organizational independence,” the Diem Association said in a press release.

“We are excited to introduce Diem – a new name that signals the project’s growing maturity and independence,” said Stuart Levey, the Diem Association’s CEO, in a press release.

As part of its effort to reassure regulators, the Facebook-backed cryptocurrency project also stressed that it will “proceed only upon receiving regulatory approval, including a payment systems license for the operational subsidiary of the Association from FINMA.”

Diem, in turn, noted the “licensing process is ongoing” in what it called an “active and productive dialogue with FINMA.”

Diem also unveiled its new hires, including “the appointment of Dahlia Malkhi as the Association’s chief technology officer, Christy Clark as chief of staff, Steve Bunnell as chief legal officer, and Kiran Raj as executive vice president for growth and innovation and deputy general counsel.”