Meta Closing Its Novi Cryptocurrency Wallet Clings to NFT and Blockchain Dreams

As Bloomberg reported this week, Meta will close the Novi digital wallet pilot project, one of the last remnants of the beleaguered cryptocurrency company, in September.

Novi users in parts of the US and Guatemala will no longer be able to log in as of September 1st.

And as of July 21, they will not be able to replenish their wallets. In fact, the Novi website encourages users to clear their accounts “as soon as possible”. Novi says it will “attempt to transfer your balance to the bank account or debit card you added to Novi”if you still have money in your account after the pilot ends.

The pilot project for Novia, originally known as Calibra, was launched in October, but Meta was already abandoning its cryptocurrency dreams, which at its peak included its own Diem stablecoin, formerly known as Libra. Instead, Novia launched a USDP stablecoin from Paxos Trust Co. It also had some WhatsApp integration.

But project leader David Markus left Meta last year . And in January, we detailed the fall in Meta’s aspirations for cryptocurrencies, as evidenced by the company’s sale of its assets (mostly intellectual property) and the return of funds to investors.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced his hopes for cryptocurrencies in 2019, dreaming of using cryptocurrencies for simple transactions on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. But despite large investments, U.S. regulators’ concerns about distribution, network control, and concerns that overly concentrated economic power would shift to member companies thwarted Meta’s plans. Ultimately, it became unclear whether the Federal Reserve would allow the project bank to issue a stablecoin.

Although Novi will die soon, Meta insists that cryptocurrency wallet technology is not. Despite skepticism about non-fungible tokens due to their necessity, reputation and value (the largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, fell 85 percent in the first half of 2022, according to the Financial Times), Meta uses Novi technology for other metaverse projects , including creating Meta capabilities based on blockchain and “digital collectibles,” a company spokesperson told Bloomberg.

“You can expect more from us in the web3 space because we are very optimistic about the value these technologies can bring to people and companies in the metaverse,” a spokesperson reportedly said.

Meta is already testing NFTs on Instagram as an intended way for creators to make money. At the end of June , Zuckerberg said that the company would move this testing to Facebook “soon.”