The leader of Facebooks stalled cryptocurrency project is leaving the company – The Verge

Facebook cryptocurrency chief David Marcus announced today that hes leaving the company. The former PayPal executive joined Facebook in 2014 to run Messenger but eventually took over plans to launch a new cryptocurrency and wallet, known at the time as Libra and Calibra, respectively.

After some pre-Meta name changes, the digital wallet launched with a small pilot in October under the name Novi but only in two countries (the US and Guatemala) and support for a single form of crypto, the Paxos stablecoin. The currency that spurred so much ire from regulators and politicians around the world, now called Diem, has yet to appear.

In posts on his Facebook page and Twitter, Marcus says, While theres still so much to do right on the heels of hitting an important milestone with Novi launching and I remain as passionate as ever about the need for change in our payments and financial systems my entrepreneurial DNA has been nudging me for too many mornings in a row to continue ignoring it. He announced that Novi VP of product Stephane Kasriel, previously an early PayPal employee and the CEO of Upwork, will take over the leadership of the team.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg commented on the Facebook post, saying, Ive learned so much working with you and Im so grateful for everything youve done for this place. We wouldnt have taken such a big swing at Diem without your leadership and Im grateful youve made Meta a place where we make those big bets. Youve built a great team, and while Ill miss working with you, Im looking forward to working with Stephane to lead the team going forward.

As recently as October, politicians were openly calling for Facebook to drop its cryptocurrency plans. At that time, Marcus said, I do want to be clear that our support for Diem hasnt changed and we intend to launch Novi with Diem once it receives regulatory approval and goes live. We care about interoperability and we want to do it right.

What his departure means for the project overall is unclear, as well as how it fits in with Zuckerbergs metaverse vision for the future. His departure also comes one day after fellow cryptocurrency proponent Jack Dorsey stepped down from his position as the CEO of Twitter. It seems unlikely that either one will be done with Web3 projects any time soon.

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The leader of Facebooks stalled cryptocurrency project is leaving the company - The Verge