Facebook renames its Calibra digital wallet to Novi

Like many crypto miners out there, Facebook believes there is a future in cryptocurrencies. Unlike many of the other cryptocurrencies out there though it wants to build one that has a value attached to it more like a traditional currency that can be traded and mined – to make it fairer. Which is why the company proposed the creation of Libra and the digital wallet that would interact with it, called Calibra.

It sounded like a noble idea at first but with a lot of regulatory and security concerns since raised it has been fraught with trouble with more than 25% of the original founding companies pulling out since then, despite these hiccups, though Facebook continues to push ahead with the idea. However, in perhaps an effort to clean up its image somewhat, the company has announced a new name and logo for its digital wallet (though is keeping Libra as the name of the currency).

That new name for its digital wallet is now Novi, which the company says was inspired by the Latin words “novus” and “via,” which mean “new” and “way,” respectively. Novi Financial is the new name of the Facebook subsidiary that will develop the company’s digital wallet.

Although Facebook initially said that there would be a single Libra coin pegged to a collection of national currencies, it now plans to have multiple digital coins pegged to individual currencies in addition to a combined Libra currency. Novi’s website says that, initially, these could include currencies like the US dollar, the British pound, and the Euro, but be expanded to include most of the currencies around the world.

It might have a new name, but the company has still not made it clear how it intends to tackle many of the initial challenges that have been thrown it’s way, especially around its Libra digital currency. That the company is now embracing other currencies in its digital wallet program so perhaps an indication that they see it as one hurdle that won’t be easily or quickly overcome.   

Last Updated: May 28, 2020