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Facebook's digital wallet Novi, which has been in development for three years, has been declared over. Mark Zuckerberg has reduced the workforce by 30% and predicted an economic downturn.

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The digital currency wallet Novi developed by Meta has announced the termination of its operations after September. Despite the failure of the stablecoin project "Diem," Meta attempted to pilot with the existing USDP stablecoin pegged to the US dollar but eventually halted the plan. The official reason for this decision has not been disclosed.

Novi Project Comes to an End

Originally known as "Calibra," Novi, led by David Marcus, changed its name due to its similarity to the Libra project. Subsequently, Novi went through the following phases:

  • August 2021: Potentially abandoning "Diem" as the final filing name, Novi positioned as a digital wallet integrating the metaverse and NFTs.
  • October 2021: Adopting the USD stablecoin USDP, with Coinbase as the custodian.
  • October 2021: Launching a small-scale pilot program in the United States and Guatemala.
  • December 2021: Initiating a Novi pilot on WhatsApp while emphasizing that they will not give up on "Diem."
  • January 2022: Project termination announced, with plans to sell the rights to "Diem" to return capital to investors.

Novi announced on its official website that services will cease after September 1st, urging U.S. and Guatemala users who participated in the pilot to withdraw their funds before the deadline. This indicates that Meta may potentially use existing "Meta Pay" as the primary payment mechanism within its ecosystem.

Layoffs Amid Impending Economic Downturn

According to a recent report by Reuters, Meta has planned to reduce hiring by 30% this year, with founder Mark Zuckerberg stating:

If I had to guess, this might be one of the most severe economic downturns we witness in modern history.

He further expressed that some employees may feel they have better opportunities elsewhere, and Zuckerberg has no objections to such independent decisions. In fact, he believes that many employees may not belong at Meta, indicating a lack of enthusiasm.