‘Novi’: Facebook to launch digital wallet this year, reports

Head of Facebook’s crypto unit, David Marcus said that the company leaders “feel pretty committed” to launch the digital wallet named Novi.

Marcus said he would have preferred to release Novi alongside Diem, a digital currency tied to the dollar that the company is also developing, but Diem’s timing was uncertain.

“In theory, Novi could launch before Diem, but it would mean launching without Diem and that’s not necessarily something that we want to do,” Marcus told The Information

“It all depends on how long it’s going to take for Diem to actually go live and that’s not something I’m personally looking after,” he added.

Earlier in 2019, Facebook revealed its plans to introduce cryptocurrency that at the time was called Libra.

However, the project faced regulatory resistance over concerns about security and reliability.

In December 2020 the ‘Libra’ changed its name to ‘Diem’ and moved its operations from Switzerland to the United States (US) as part of a strategic shift.