The original name of Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency project was Libra. Facebook formally announced Libra on June 18, 2019, presenting it as a global digital-payment system built around a stablecoin and a permissioned blockchain.
The project was intended to be overseen by the Libra Association, a separate membership organization that included companies from payments, technology, telecommunications and other industries. Facebook also planned a digital wallet, initially called Calibra, to let users hold and transfer the currency.
Libra faced intense criticism from regulators and policymakers, who raised concerns about monetary sovereignty, financial stability, privacy, consumer protection and Facebook’s market power. Several prominent corporate partners withdrew from the association in October 2019 as scrutiny intensified.
In December 2020, the project and its governing body were renamed Diem and the Diem Association. “Diem” means “day” in Latin and was chosen to signal a new phase for the project. Diem never launched as a widely used currency; the association wound down and sold its assets in January 2022. Ethereum and Bitcoin were separate cryptocurrencies, not earlier names for Facebook’s project.