Meta shuts down its digital wallet for cryptocurrency Novi less than a year after launch, effectively ending the company’s crypto ambitions.
The Novi pilot allowed users to make toll-free, instant personal payments via the app that Meta claimed would make sending money “as easy as sending a message”.
The technology made its first foray into cryptocurrency, the Libra project, three years ago before launching a “small pilot” of Novi in October last year.
The launch was reduced compared to the original ambition, by using stablecoin USDP instead of its own Diem coin.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has pulled the plug on the crypto transfer service Novi
One month after the launch of Novi, Meta’s crypto manager David Marcus left the company and Diem, formerly known as Libra, began discontinuing operations at the beginning of the year.
In an update to users, the service, which uses Meta’s own crypto-digital wallet, will end on September 1, and from July 21, users will no longer be able to add money to their accounts.
Novi advises users to withdraw their balance “as soon as possible”.
The closure of Novi comes in the midst of a severe crypto-downturn, in which leading cryptocurrencies have crashed.
The market has proved just as vulnerable to the broader problems of the global economy, which has led some market commentators to declare the arrival of a crypto winter.
Bitcoin is down 59 percent so far this year, and falls below the $ 20,000 barrier, while ethereum is down 70 percent to $ 1,127.
In a statement to Bloomberg, Meta said they plan to use Novi’s technology in future products, such as the metaverse project.
“We are already using the years spent building capacity for Meta in general on blockchain and introducing new products, such as digital collectibles.
“You can expect to see more from us in the web3 site because we are very optimistic about the value these technologies can bring to people and businesses in the metaverse.”
Meta has talked about the metaverse as a great opportunity, especially for digital commerce, after investing $ 10 billion in the project.
However, Zuckerberg has spoken down to generate large revenues from the project in the foreseeable future.
In April, the Meta CEO said that it could take seven to ten years before the investments yield any net income.
And while Meta may be scaling down its crypto efforts, it is doubling its support for non-fungible tokens on its sites.
Facebook will soon launch NFTs on its website with a “digital collectibles” tab on creators’ timelines to showcase their work. Eventually, creators will be able to post on Facebook and Instagram.
While Meta can double on NFTs, trading volumes are significantly reduced compared to last year, as they capture some of the encryption.
