Meta's unsuccessful digital wallet pilot program has come to an end, and it is the last piece remaining of the failed cryptocurrency project.

During an eight-month-long pilot project, Novi's cryptocurrency-powered payment platform was tested by users in the United States and Guatemala. The platform will be decommissioned on Sept. 1.

Starting September 21st, users will no longer have access to their accounts, and adding money to Novi will no longer be possible. Meta will attempt to transfer remaining balances to the bank account or debit card that was linked to the account if someone forgets to withdraw their balance.

In Guatemala, users can withdraw holdings in cash at a select location in Guatemala City, or withdraw funds from Novi wallets to their linked bank accounts.

In October, Meta launched Novi, an app that supports free and fast transactions using Diem, Meta's backed cryptocurrency, since regulatory challenges prevented the company from using Diem, it partnered with Coinbase instead. In the event that Meta obtained regulatory approval, they planned to migrate the Novi platform to the Diem blockchain ecosystem.

Diem was once known as Libra before the Facebook parent company became Meta. Because of its close ties to Facebook, the cryptocurrency project needed to rebrand itself as Diem in order to distance itself from Facebook.

The end of Novi wallet comes shortly after Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg announced on June 22 the change of Facebook Pay to Meta Pay. Except for a digital wallet that allows you to securely manage your identity, what you own, and how you pay, the functionality will remain largely unchanged.

Even after Diem ends, Meta will not abandon its plans to create digital assets and wallets on its own. For select US creators, Meta has recently rolled out support for non-fungible tokens on Facebook and Instagram. It is also developing a digital currency without blockchain technology, called Zuck Bucks.

Pavan A

CBW - External Analyst

INDIA