Facebook quietly sold the assets of Diem for $200 million to Silvergate Capital Corporation. I liked the concept of Diem currency but didn’t want Facebook to own it. I recall Dante Disparte, one of the original executives at the Libra Foundation, which oversaw Diem, telling me that Facebook’s stable coin was the right message, just the wrong messenger. Those words echo in my brain.
Facebook’s inability to win over partners, regulators, or banks with the Diem project doesn’t bode well for the bold launch of its Meta project. Same story; different setting. The metaverse is the right message, but Meta may not be able to win (or buy) the goodwill, collaboration, and regulatory oversight necessary to pull it off.
