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Facebook continues sprucing up for regulators.
Facebook-owned digital wallet Calibra rebranded itself as Novi earlier today, sharing new details about the project.
The primary reason for the name change was to avoid the confusion with the Libra cryptocurrency, a representative for Novi told Cointelegraph.
âWhen we announced Libra and Calibra last June, we wanted to demonstrate that Calibra, the digital wallet, was closely linked to Libra, the global payment system. Both brands were born out of the same vision, to give people more access to the global economy. However, weâve found that Calibra and Libra sounded too similar and people were getting confused, so we set out to create distinction between the two.â
The new name, which comes from the Latin words ânovusâ for ânewâ and âviaâ for âwayâ, intends to signal that the Facebook-developed product wonât be the only wallet available on the Libra blockchain. âWe hope that Novi will be one of many wallets,â the spokesperson said.
Asked about a timetable for launch, the representative said, âOur hope is to introduce an early version of Novi when the Libra network is available and we have secured all the licenses or approvals necessary to offer the services.â
According to the official press release, Novi will be released as a standalone app as well as be integrated into Messenger and WhatsApp, two Facebook-owned messengers boasting around 1.3 billion and 2 billion active users respectively.
All customers will be asked for a government-issued ID, while âfraud protections will be built in throughout the appâ â a move that seems to stress the companyâs compliance in light of the regulatory scrutiny surrounding Facebookâs cryptocurrency project.
Although the walletâs new design is supposed to ârepresent the fluid movement of digital currencies,â it does not currently plan to cater to any cryptocurrencies other than the Libra Coins. These are represented by single-currency stablecoins like LibraUSD, LibraEUR and Libra GBP. There is also a multi-currency coin called LBR.
Libra has been making adjustments
Earlier this year, the Libra Association introduced a number of changes in a bid to make the project more attractive to regulators. It applied for a payment system license from the Swiss financial regulator FINMA and updated its white paper to introduce a more compliant roadmap for Libraâs future, essentially limiting what users and hosts can do on the network.
To further cement its commitment to abide by crypto regulations, the Libra Association has gone on a hiring spree, tagging in compliance veterans like Robert Werner and Stuart Levey. Werner resume boasts names like the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, while Levey was the chief legal officer for HSBC Holdings.
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