Facebook’s digital currency has gone through a tumultous development and been part of a disastorus news cycle before it’s even launched.
From being announced to much interest and fanfare last year. The hope and excitement was quickly replaced by uncertainty as Facebook’s partners in bringing the digital currency pulled out due to regulatory scrutiny.
Whilst the currency is still in development the assumption is that the scale of the project will not be as great with less funding and less partners involved. Gloom aside, Facebook has announced that the digital wallet for Libra will be rebranded from Calibra to Novi.
Today, we’re excited to introduce Novi — the new name and brand for the digital wallet that will help people send and hold Libra digital currencies.
Facebook Blog Post
So what does this change mean? Well, Facebook stresses that whilst the name has changed their initial commitment “to helping people around the world access affordable financial services” remains the same.
Novi will still do a lot of things that were going to be available to Calibra users. Novi users will still have to register and be verified using their National ID.
So why change the name? Considering that Facebook is only a member of the Libra association and not ultimately responsible for the currency, some are speculating that renaming the wallet distances Facebook from the currency. This makes sense to an extent since Facebook is solely responsible for the wallet but the impression has been that the tech giant is responsible for both the wallet and the currency.
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