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Meta to discontinue Novi crypto wallet in September

by WAYA Staff - Jul 7, 2022
Meta to discontinue Novi crypto wallet in September
Image Credits: Blockchain.news

A year after starting the project, Meta reported it will be shutting down its digital wallet facility, Novi, on September 1st, 2022. Users were prompted on the Novi website to withdraw their funds before then.

Launched in October 2021 in the US and Guatemala as a standalone app and integrated into WhatsApp several months later, Novi was designed to be Meta’s money-transfer service, allowing users to quickly send and receive money with no fees. 

Novi was based on Diem (formerly Libra), a cryptocurrency backed by Meta, but these plans did not pan out because the cryptocurrency never received regulatory approval, forcing them to abandon the project and use the Paxon stablecoin instead.

Because WhatsApp Pay is only available in Brazil and India, WhatsApp users in the US and Guatemala will also no longer be able to quickly transfer money to others using Novi.

The company assures users it will be repurposing the technology for other metaverse-related projects.

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