The change in name from the Facebook-backed Libra Association to Diem appears to have the goal of dispelling negative perceptions about the project. However, these project changes will not change the regulatory pressure that is still being faced.
Since the desire to release the service 18 months ago, Facebook has received a lot of resistance from policy makers in the US region, especially from the US Senate which is very strong. They fear that the services provided by Facebook will have a major impact on the current conventional financial and payment systems.
Name Change To Diem
Towards the close of 2020, there are reports that say Libra will be released in early 2021 with the native token pegged to US Dollars. However it will not function like a stablecoin that is pegged to a fiat token and becomes the opposite of a plan involving a basket of tokens.
In early December, the Libra Association announced officially a name change to the Diem Association. Diem CEO Stuart Levey said the change was a new day for projects that still hope to provide an innovative platform for billions of people to transact with one another.
Unfortunately, the naming was considered the same as a company based in England. Of course this could lead to an international brand dispute between the Diem Association and the Diem pawnshop in England.
Regulatory Challenges
Once again, Diem's ??release is actually still subject to Swiss FINMA. This process has been around since April when the Libra Association applied for a payment system license. But even so, all of that did not influence the views of some people such as the German Minister of Finance, Olaf Scholz, who said at the G-7 meeting that the project would not get permission in the country if it did not address ongoing regulatory issues.
In October, the G-7 released a draft document showing Diem's ??release will be challenged until it has met the relevant legal, regulatory and supervisory requirements. Meanwhile Facebook is facing intense pressure from the US Congress and the Federal Trade Commission over allegations of widespread anti-competitive practices over the past 10 years.
