As the cryptocurrency industry nosedives further, plummeting investors’ funds and crippling the market’s value along the way, companies in the industry are being confronted with the tough decision of whether to stay in business or shut down operations.
The headwinds that have forced leading crypto asset bitcoin to stay below and a little above $20,000 dollars, is also forcing many institutions’ crypto-linked operations to shut down. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has been caught in the wind.
Meta is shutting down Novi, its cryptocurrency digital wallet. Bloomberg made the report citing a notice where the company announced it would sunset the platform on September 1st, with July 20th being the final day to add funds.
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The decision marks another premature end to Meta’s bid to delve into crypto. The company’s first attempt at it was Libra, a huge crypto project that Meta had partnered with several other institutions to develop. But it met the government’s resistance and was forced to wind down.
According to the report, Meta advised users to withdraw their balance “as soon as possible,” as it would “attempt to transfer” any remaining money to customer bank accounts and debit cards after Novi’s final day of operation.
The social media behemoth began the pilot of Novi last October, but has failed to grow past the beginner’s phase as the crypto crash takes a toll. But it didn’t use a new Diem or Libra token. Per Bloomberg, Novi ended up using Paxos Trust Co.’s USDP stablecoin to allow wallet users from parts of the U.S. and Guatemala to conduct transactions while Coinbase Global Inc. safeguarded the funds.
But not minding the failures that have characterized its attempts at cryptocurrency operations, Meta said it’s going to give it another shot.
“We are already leveraging the years spent on building capabilities for Meta overall on blockchain and introducing new products, such as digital collectibles,” a company spokesperson told Bloomberg. “You can expect to see more from us in the web3 space because we are very optimistic about the value these technologies can bring to people and businesses in the metaverse.”
Per Engadget, the company announced last month that it was rebranding Facebook Pay to Meta Pay, a move CEO Mark Zuckerberg described as a “first step” toward creating a digital wallet for the metaverse.
However, Novi’s shutdown is a big one among many, highlighting the consequential realities of the crypto market’s crash. Notable crypto exchange platforms are deeply immersed in the dip, forcing some to file for bankruptcy. To make the matter worse, there is no working to pull the industry back to the bull market.