Facebook’s virtual-currency project announced in 2019 was called Libra.
Facebook introduced Libra in June 2019 as a proposed global digital currency supported by a consortium of companies and nonprofit organizations. The project was intended to use a blockchain-based system and a reserve of assets to seek greater stability than many cryptocurrencies whose prices fluctuate sharply.
The project attracted intense scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers, who questioned monetary policy, financial stability, consumer protection, money laundering controls, and Facebook’s handling of personal data. Several original partners left the association after the announcement.
Facebook later renamed the currency project Diem, while its planned digital wallet changed from Calibra to Novi. The Diem Association eventually announced the sale of its intellectual property and assets in 2022. Thus Libra is the original 2019 project name, not the later name Diem or the wallet brand Novi.