Libra Association Rebrands to Diem Ahead of 2021 Launch

UTC by Ibukun Ogundare · 3 min read
Libra Association Rebrands to Diem Ahead of 2021 Launch
Photo: Diem Association / Twitter

Before now, the Diem association already selected some of its members to serve in different positions.

The Libra Association has announced a name change to the Diem Association in a press release. As noted by Cointelegraph, the association hopes that the restructuring will help the newly-named Diem Association separate itself from Libra’s original vision led by Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB).

Libra Rebrands to Diem Association

The association announced the rebranding to Diem, the Latin word for ‘day,’ on the 1st of December. In the announcement, the Diem Association said:

“Now transitioning to the name ‘Diem,’ which denotes a new day for the project, the Diem Association will continue to pursue a mission of building a safe, secure and compliant payment system that empowers people and businesses around the world.”

Also, the association has revealed the new logo for Diem. The purple-themed Diem logo with ‘diem’ in the lower case has similar features with the original Libra logo.

In addition, the 27-member group has elected new members to lead the Diem Association. The newly-elected members are additions to the other executives that were already appointed.

According to a CoinDesk report, the new leaders include Dahlia Malkhi as chief technology officer and Steve Bunnell as the chief legal officer. Also, Christy Clark was appointed as the chief of staff and Kiran Raj will serve as the deputy general counsel. Raj was also appointed as the executive vice president.

Before now, the Diem association had selected some of its members to serve in different positions. The leaders include Stuart Levey as the association CEO, Ian Jenkins as the chief financial officer, James Emmett as the managing director, and Saumya Bhavsar as the general counsel. Bhavsar was formerly the managing director, global head of regulatory affairs at the Credit Suisse Group.

The Diem Association CEO commented on the change of name. He said:

“We like the connotation of it kind of being a new say for the project. We wanted a new start.”

The Diem Association Plans to Roll Out Coin In 2021

The association is planning a “new start” ahead of the launch of its single-dollar backed stablecoin in 2021. According to a report by Financial Times, three familiar sources revealed the launch plan. Initially, the association planned to peg the stablecoin to multiple fiat currencies.

The new plan to back the coin with a 1:1 US dollar came after the initial plan faced legal criticisms within and outside the US. The major regulatory scrutiny led to the departure of some of the project’s founding members. Some of the original members that left the initiative are PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL), MasterCard Inc (NYSE: MA), eBay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY), and Vodafone Group Plc (NASDAQ: VOD).

Also, the association hopes to add more fiat currencies to back the coin in the future. Originally, the Libra association planned to be back the stablecoin by a basket of fiat currencies like the pound, Singapore dollar, yen, and the US dollar.

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