David Marcus– board member of the Diem Association and head of digital wallet Novi– revealed in a recent blog post that the Diem payment system had been licensed in nearly every state.
Diem as a Global Payment System
Marcus happened to reveal the news in the middle of a recent Medium post titled Good stablecoins, a protocol for money, and digital wallets: the formula to fix our broken payment system. The post was intended to explain why stablecoins could fix a number of problems within the current international payments system and why Facebook was up to the task of creating the right coin, network, and wallet for it.
“I strongly believe if there was ever a chance to create an open, interoperable protocol for money on the internet and truly change the game for people and businesses around the world, it is now. The fact that we’re participating, as members of the Diem Association, and in other ways, can help bring more companies around a standard, and I don’t want us to waste our shot.”
After outlining many possibilities, including how a global stablecoin network can help bank the unbanked and help the U.S. maintain the dollar’s power as the world reserve currency, Marcus pivots to defending Facebook’s legitimacy as the provider of such a stablecoin and network. He notes Diem’s state licensing and approvals in the process:
“We have stayed true to these commitments and engaged in constructive consultations with regulators and policy makers around the world. In the US, we have secured licenses or approvals for Novi in nearly every state, and we will not launch anywhere we have not yet received such clearances.”
Marcus concludes by stating that Novi is “ready to come to market” and to meet all of the needs surrounding “where the future of money is going” while strictly obeying regulators.
Diem’s Potential and Facebook’s Power
Given that Diem could be set to launch by the end of this year and that the current lead stablecoin Tether is presently dogged by concerns of lacking sufficient collateral, it’s quite possible that Diem becomes a leading stablecoin, and perhaps even a leading cryptocurrency altogether. After announcing itself as “Libra” in 2019, the company faced scrutiny and hostility from major payment networks over fear that they were trying to establish a “single global digital currency” managed by Facebook.
In his blog post, Marcus still assures readers that Facebook has no “ominous plan” with their network and that their first focus is “addressing big problems for people at scale.”
