The Libra Association that was put together by Facebook in 2019 is rebranding in an effort to differentiate itself from the original vision of Facebook revealed last year.
The group, which is composed of 27 member firms, announced it is changing its name to Diem (the Latin word for “day”) as it prepares for the upcoming 2021 launch of its new, dollar-pegged stablecoin. The association has also announced its managing team, which includes Dahlia Malkhi as CTO, Christy Clark on the position of chief of staff, Steve Bunnell as a chief legal officer, and Kiran Raj given the role of executive vice president for growth and innovation.
The new hires join the previously announced CEO Stuart Levey, Managing Director James Emmett, CCO Sterling Daines, CFO Ian Jenkins, and General Counsel Saumya Bhavsar.
Social media giant Facebook announced to the public the Libra initiative in June 2019 after a year of secret development and research preparations. Back then, the project suggested the introduction of a stablecoin backed by a rich basket of fiat currencies. Stablecoin could be used all over the world as a means of exchange. It prompted instant international regulatory backlash, with leading politicians and lawmakers demanding that all development be stopped until they could better analyze the consequences, provide some sort of regulatory oversight and ensure there were impending risks to global financial stability.
