Facebook taps Coinbase for its new digital wallet for cryptocurrencies called Novi

We covered Facebook over a year ago after the social behemoth renamed and rebranded its digital wallet to Novi from Calibra, a subsidiary of Facebook created to distance the company from the Libra digital currency that Facebook originally created.

According to the announcement, Novi is a digital wallet that helps people send and receive money internationally — instantly, securely, and with no fees.

Fast forward a year later, Facebook finally launched Novi on Tuesday. Facebook also announced it has hired Coinbase to help with the logistics. In an announcement out early Tuesday, Coinbase said it would be storing the cryptocurrencies that Facebook will offer to users who sign up for the early test version of the Novi wallet.

According to Facebook, users can sign up for Novi by downloading the Novi app. Facebook also stated that the app will also be available in other Facebook apps, like Messenger and WhatsApp, soon.

Unlike existing stablecoins like Tether, Novi uses USDP (Pax Dollar), a digital currency that runs on secure blockchain technology. Novi users will deal in the Paxos Dollar or USDP. The stablecoin, whose current CoinMarketCap ranking is #100, is pegged to the price of the U.S. dollar.

In a tweet, Facebook said, “Say goodbye to delays and fees and say 👋 to Novi — currently rolling out in Guatemala and most of the United States on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Check back here for the latest updates on availability, or visit https://bit.ly/3lSF2nR”

https://twitter.com/novi/status/1450447507385950220

In October 2019, backers abandoned Facebook Libra. Policy leaders and world finance leaders also expressed concerns about the digital currency saying that Libra must not go ahead until Facebook can prove it is safe and secure. As it turns out, Facebook is not giving up its ambitious plan to venture into the digital currency space.

Today, Facebook announced it’s renaming and rebranding its digital wallet from Calibra to Novi. According to the announcement, Facebook said it is in the process of launching a cryptocurrency called Libra, with the intention of making it easier for people to send money across the world. Libra is designed to help enable open, instant, and low-cost payments around the world.  If everything goes as planned, the Libra payment system will facilitate a more accessible, more connected global financial system.

The first Libra Association white paper was published in June 2019. The company later announced a new Association white paper, which was published in April 2020. It is intended to be a stand-alone update regarding the plans of the Association. According to the white paper, Novi will offer single-currency stablecoins in addition to the multi-currency coin.

While our vision has always been for the Libra network to complement fiat currencies, not compete with them, a key concern that was shared was the potential for the multi-currency Libra Coin (≋LBR) to interfere with monetary sovereignty and monetary policy if the network reaches significant scale and a large volume of domestic payments are made in ≋LBR. We are therefore augmenting the Libra network by including single-currency stablecoins in addition to ≋LBR, initially starting with some of the currencies in the proposed ≋LBR basket (e.g., LibraUSD or ≋USD, LibraEUR or ≋EUR, LibraGBP or ≋GBP, LibraSGD or ≋SGD). This will allow people and businesses in the regions whose local currencies have single-currency stablecoins on the Libra network to directly access a stablecoin in their currency.