Facebook-backed Libra Association changes its name

Having changed pretty much everything in the organization, the Libra Association is now changing its name. Goodbye Libra Association, hello Diem Association.

"The Diem Association will continue to pursue a mission of building a safe, secure and compliant payment system that empowers people and businesses around the world," the organization said in a press release Tuesday.

The name change comes after a thorough reshuffling of Libra's original team and, to an extent, its vision. This included adding new key executives (Stuart Levey, the current CEO joined the company in May 2020), and adding new partners (Paradigm, Slow Ventures, Blockchain Capital) after shedding some old ones (PayPal, MasterCard).

Most importantly, after much disapproval from regulators, Libra had to change its original plan, laid out in June 2019, of launching a stablecoin pegged to a basket of currencies. According to a recent report by the Financial Times, the association plans to launch a simpler product, a dollar-pegged stablecoin, as early as January 2021.

Officially, Diem's mission hasn't changed all that much. “The Diem project will provide a simple platform for fintech innovation to thrive and enable consumers and businesses to conduct instantaneous, low-cost, highly secure transactions,” Levey said in a statement. The new name "signals the project’s growing maturity and independence,” he said.

The association put in a lot of effort to distance itself from Facebook, which was the focus of regulatory hearings despite nominally being just one founding member of the association. Notably, the association's press release about the name change doesn't even mention Facebook.

As for its immediate future, the Diem Association says it's "prioritizing technological and operational readiness for launch" while it awaits green lights from regulators.