Mark Zuckerberg’s crypto project launched in 2019 up for sale amid regulatory pressures

Mark Zuckerberg’s ambitious cryptocurrency project that he planned to build on his own is now falling apart. Amid growing pressure from regulators, the controversial project, that the founder of Meta once defended in front of Congress, is reportedly for sale. According to international reports, the Diem Association, backed by Meta, is now in plans to sell its assets as a way to return capital to its investor members. The project was once seen as a major part of the metaverse vision put forth by Zuckerberg.

According to Bloomberg, the Diem Association, which oversees the development of the Diem digital currency, a cryptocurrency initiative once known as Libra backed by Meta is now weighing its assets for sale. Diem is reportedly in talks with several investment bankers to go through with the sale of the massive project. According to reports, the company is including its intellectual properties in the sale, in an effort to capture any value that is left in the ambitious project.

Sources also confirmed to Bloomberg that the company is trying to find a new destination for the engineers who developed the technology. However, both the Diem Association and Facebook’s parent company, Meta is yet to confirm the development. The project, which was seen as one of the most ambitious one in the cryptocurrency market, have been running into trouble with the regulators on a constant basis. The continuous fight with Congress will only make it tougher for the company to find a buyer and gain a sensible value for the project.

Facebook cryptocurrency project

Zuckerberg first announced the crypto project in June 2019. The project has been facing issues ever since. The cryptocurrency was initially called Libra and it was conceived by experts as a stablecoin (a cryptocurrency coin that has a value pegged to a real-world asset like the US dollar or gold). However, Zuckerberg’s plans began to go downhill as he announced his initial plan to launch a universal currency tied to a basket of major currencies and government debt.

The project was faced with hostility from central bankers and politicians. The project was seen by many as a way to facilitate money laundering and privacy infringement. Congress even questioned the project’s value as a competition to sovereign currencies like the US dollar. Later, the project was changed and the vision for the cryptocurrency was brought down to a USD backed stablecoin known as Diem USD. Apart from Meta, the project also held the backing of investors like Visa, Mastercard and PayPal. However, the project itself suffered a chain of ownership issues and suffered an exodus of corporate partners and top-level executives. The ambitious project is finally up for sale three years since its inception.

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