Mark Zuckerberg’s Diem cryptocurrency in talks for sale

Diem Cryptocurrency - talks -discussion

The Meta CEO’s botched digital currency is considering a sale of assets, say recent media reports.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s efforts to create his own Diem cryptocurrency are crumbling as regulators apply growing pressure.

The association overseeing the digital currency is discussing a sale of the crypto’s assets.

The Diem cryptocurrency is overseen by the Diem Association, which is now considering returning capital to its investors by selling its assets, said a recent Bloomberg report. An association representative declined the opportunity to immediately comment. That said, according to the report, the association is now in discussions with investment bankers regarding how it will proceed, including its strategy for selling its intellectual property in an attempt to draw out whatever value remains.

Sources cited in the report stated that the company is also working to rehome the engineers who were hired for the technology’s development. It seems that talks remain in their early stages. At this point, there is no clear evidence whether a buyer will be found. Moreover, it is also not obvious how the intellectual property would be valued even if a buyer were to be found.

Diem Cryptocurrency - Meta logo

According to the report’s sources Meta owns about one third of the Diem cryptocurrency project.

The remainder of the venture is owned by members of the association, including Ribbit Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Union Square Ventures.

The attempt to launch and succeed with the digital coin has been riddled in controversy since it was originally announced in June 2019. At that time, the digital coin was called Libra. It was created as a form of stablecoin, a specific type of cryptocurrency that would lock its value to a real-world asset, such as the US dollar or another fiat currency, or to gold or another commodity. Libra, later known as Diem, was originally planned for launch as a universal currency with its value linked to a combination of major currencies in addition to government debt.

From the moment the Diem cryptocurrency was unveiled, it faced massive opposition ranging from politicians to central bankers. They were vocal in their concerns that this digital coin would promote ease of privacy infringement and money laundering among other cybercrimes. Massive regulatory backlash choked the project right from the start.

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