Almost everybody knows of Facebook, the social media giant that owns many other social media platforms and messaging applications such as WhatsApp. The company knows that to remain ahead of the market, innovation and good services matter. Companies such as Blackberry and Nokia are the best companies that collapsed for lack of change.
Facebook/Meta
Facebook is currently working on its Metaverse project. This is a virtual world where people can do normal things. This includes owning property, buying and selling assets, playing games, and having meetings. Many organisations are considering Metaverse offices to allow people to work remotely. This will be a centralised office they can access from their homes. The currency in the Metaverse is cryptocurrency supported by blockchain technology. The assets in the Metaverse are also meant to be NFTs to help ensure their credibility and value.
To help make the project a success, Meta had a cryptocurrency project as the funds in the Metaverse. The project started in October 2021. It gathered support and investment from thousands of people and made millions in its Initial Coin Offering. The main purpose of the project was to make transactions fast and free. This project would make investing in the Metaverse an easy task. The project was initially given the name Libra. Although this was the case, the cryptocurrency project faced many regulatory issues. This made Facebook change its parent cryptocurrency and partner up with Coinbase. They started using Paxos stable coin (USDP) as the blockchain technology supporting their project.
Challenges
But like all the other cryptocurrency projects, Libra has faced challenges since late last year. The problem started when they rebranded. Facebook rebranded to Meta and Libra to Diem. This led investors and the government to scrutinise the company. As a result, the US Senate wanted the project shut down. The main reason for this, Facebook was selling information to other organisations.
The Senate thought the company was untrustworthy of cryptocurrency. Other challenges included the head of the company’s cryptocurrency project, David Marcus, who resigned. In 2022, Diem also sold $200 million of its assets to cover its expenses. Currently, the project is shutting down, less than a year since it began. This is due to the challenges they face from the government and the current crash of cryptocurrency.
From the most recent reports, the project will be shut down completely on 1st September 2022. They are giving their investors two months to withdraw their investment. After the said date, people will lose access to their accounts. From 21st July, people will not be able to deposit money. After the project is shut down, investors who have not withdrawn their funds will receive the money in their bank accounts or debit cards.
