Meta-backed crypto initiative “Diem” is reportedly trying to sell its assets, seemingly calling time on Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s grand ambitions for a stablecoin to act as the internet’s currency. Diem — which was previously known as Libra — is Meta Platform’s cryptocurrency initiative. According to insider sources speaking with Bloomberg, it is considering selling assets to return capital to its investors. The sources said that Diem is in discussions with investment bankers to determine the best way to sell its intellectual property and cash out on whatever value the project has maintained. It’s unclear how the company will be …

Cryptocurrency exchange Okcoin has announced Randi Zuckerberg — the sister of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — will be joining the platform’s brand advisory council in its aim to bring more women into crypto. In a Thursday announcement, Okcoin said that in addition to hiring Zuckerberg, the exchange would be committing $1 million in an attempt to reach a 50% female user base by 2025. Zuckerberg was the former director of market development and a spokesperson for Facebook until she resigned in 2011, moving on to start her own social media firm in addition to founding the Zuckerberg Institute — a …

David Marcus, the head of Meta’s cryptocurrency and fintech unit Novi, will step down from his role by the end of 2021. Taking over from Marcus will be Stephane Kasriel, the former CEO of Upwork who has been at Meta, formerly known as Facebook, since August 2020. Marcus announced the decision via a Dec. 1 tweet, noting that he had made the “difficult decision” to leave the firm by the end of this year. The exec didn’t go into detail about what his next move would be, but hinted that it may be something “new and exciting” that he builds …

The Winklevoss twins’ crypto exchange Gemini will allocate capital from its $400 million funding round into building a “Gemini experience in different Metaverses.” Gemini announced that it had closed a $400 million equity growth funding round at a valuation of $7.1 billion on Nov. 18, marking the first time the firm had sought outside financing. Morgan Creek Digital led the round with participation from 10T, ParaFi, Newflow Partners, and Marcy Venture Partners to name a few. Notably, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) — which also partnered with Gemini to launch the first crypto trading services offered by a big …

Meta — the company formerly known as Facebook — is diving straight into virtual reality with a preview of its latest research and development on haptic gloves which give sensory feedback while in digital realms. Facebook rebranded to Meta in late October to shift its focus from social media to Metaverse and VR tech development. In a Nov. 16 blog post, Meta shared the latest breakthroughs in haptic glove research from its VR tech firm Reality Labs, noting that the product has been seven years in the making. The firm shared a video that shows two people testing the haptic …

Crypto leaders are divided over whether Mark Zuckerberg should lead Facebook into the Metaverse, with Hodl Asset’s Jenny Ta saying he needs to resign if Meta is to succeed while Animoca’s Yat Siu says Zuck is the only one who can drive the company forward. Ta is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of nonfungible token (NFT) platform developer Hodl Assets, and said that Zuckerberg needs to head off lawsuits and protect the company’s image by relinquishing his role as CEO. But the co-founder and Chairman of blockchain game and virtual property developer Animoca Brands, Yat Su said that Zuck is …

Nick Clegg, Vice‑President for Global Affairs and Communications at Meta Platforms, spoke at Lisbon’s Web Summit 2021 during a panel on Facebook and innovation in Europe. The world’s biggest tech conference has returned to a physical setting following a two-year, Covid-induced virtual hiatus. The event is showcasing an illustrious list of entrepreneurs, organizations and influencers at the cutting-edge of their respective fields and has — according to recent data compiled by the Web Summit communications team — attracted 42,751 attendees from 128 countries, 50.5% of which are female, the highest ever participation in the ten-year event’s history. Interviewed by Matthew …

Facebook Inc. announced Thursday that it has changed its company name to Meta — marking the first major rebrand for the social media giant. The name change, which reflects the company’s growing ambitions beyond social media, was unveiled by CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the Facebook Connect conference. An accompanying news release laid out the company’s vision for creating a “metaverse” that connects online social experiences and the physical world. Facebook Connect is an annual conference that brings together virtual reality developers, content creators and marketers. This year’s event is heavily focused on the metaverse concept, which has proliferated thanks to …

Stablecoin project Diem has distanced itself from Facebook in response to senators calling for the immediate cessation of the firm’s Novi crypto wallet. Diem also claimed senior regulators had called it “the best-designed stablecoin project that the U.S. government had seen.” In a Tuesday letter sent to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the senators, including crypto critic Elizabeth Warren, voiced their “strongest opposition to Facebook’s revived effort to launch a cryptocurrency and digital wallet.” Earlier that day, the Novi wallet was launched in partnership with Coinbase, with a pilot in the United States and Guatemala to enable users to buy, send …

Five senators have called for the immediate closure of Facebook’s new crypto wallet just hours after it was launched in a partnership with Coinbase. Crypto skeptic Senator Elizabeth Warren was one of the five urging Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to “immediately discontinue” the project. In a letter sent to Zuckerberg on Tuesday, the five senators wrote: “Given the scope of the scandals surrounding your company, we write to voice our strongest opposition to Facebook’s revived effort to launch a cryptocurrency and digital wallet, now branded ‘Diem’ and ‘Novi,’ respectively.” Diem is Facebook’s ambitious stablecoin project, formerly known as Libra, which …

Facebook’s conglomerate of social applications, including Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and its virtual reality headset Oculus, all suffered a major power outage on Monday, switching the platforms offline for a total of six hours to the effect of billions of users and businesses across the world. The incident was first reported at approximately 3:16 pm UTC on Monday when a surge of complaints emerged from users worldwide claiming that they were unable to access their favorite social networking platforms. A Cloudflare post-analysis of the crisis concluded that Facebook “had stopped announcing the routes to their DNS prefixes,” which meant that the …

As nonfungible token sales appear reanimated after a nearly two-month dry spell from their apex in May, a particular NFT application is gaining popularity more than ever: metaverses. Metaverses have gained their fair share of media attention lately, with big moves coming from companies like Facebook and Epic games. However, not everyone — even those who have been in crypto for a long time — has caught on to what metaverses are, despite the hype. But as more companies, celebrities and artists venture into the space, it has become another domain that deserves some thorough consideration. The Metaverse is a …