Meta is pulling the plug on its cryptocurrency wallet app Novi. Novi was Meta’s last cryptocurrency project.
The social media giant, which changed its name from Facebook to Meta Platforms last year, made a surprising decision. It announced that it will close its cryptocurrency wallet service Novi in September. Meta, which has been conducting tests on cryptocurrency and digital assets for a while, has completely withdrawn from cryptocurrencies with its latest move.
Meta pulls the plug on cryptocurrency wallet Novi
Novi’s aim was to enable fast cryptocurrency transfers via Facebook or WhatsApp. Payments on the Novi wallet were initially made with the Pax Dollar (USDP) stablecoin, which is equivalent to the US dollar. In addition to the Novi app, the wallet was available via WhatsApp.
According to Meta’s latest announcement, the Novi app and the Novi feature as part of WhatsApp will be unavailable from September 1. After July 21, wallets will no longer be able to add funds and users will be asked to withdraw their cryptocurrencies completely.
Although Meta is shutting down the Novi service, it is not completely canceling the project. It said it plans to use the cryptocurrency wallet technology in other future products such as metaverse development. A spokesperson for the company said in a statement to Bloomberg:
We are already leveraging this space to build meta on the blockchain and offer new products such as digital collections. You will see more from us on web3 as we are very optimistic about the value these technologies can bring to the metaverse.
Meta’s cryptocurrency and wallet projects have actually made their mark in recent years. Having previously launched a digital asset called Diem (originally called Libra) and quickly admitted its failure, Meta sold the Diem Association and disbanded its team.
Meta has not completely moved away from blockchain products. Going forward, the company is expected to launch NFT on Facebook. According to the studies launched in May, it is among the possible expectations that NFT production will be allowed.
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