This morning news broke that the Libra Association was changing its name to Diem and the currency was also changing its name from Libra to Diem as well. While most people in the crypto space are probably not surprised due to the backlash libra experienced when they first tried to launch it this is a concerning development in my opinion.
Almost everyone in the financial market and even a ton of Facebook users knew what libra was. When it came out that libra was going to launch in January of 2021 people dedicated to the crypto space continued to reject it. What bothers me is this quick name change right before launch. It appears that the Facebook-led group is trying to shed the bad view people had of libra but still get the same technology and blockchain into the hands of everyday people.
Crypto's big draw was the lack of control governments and large companies had over it so when Facebook started this idea it was hated by those in the crypto space because it goes against all that we have cheered on about crypto. Now the "Diem Organization"/Libra Organization is trying to pull a fast move on people? I am not sure how people won't further hate this idea even more.
No one likes deception and that is what this move boils down to with it being this close to the launch. To attract more users to get their chain used more they are flat out slapping a new name on an "old" product. I can already see people now joining this blockchain completely unaware that it was libra and not something new. With Facebook already having all the backlash that they have had it amazes me that they would open themselves to this again! You would think with this new administration coming in that has attacked large companies in past comments Facebook wouldn't pull a move like this. This just seems to be another example of when a company feels it can do what it wants and not care about what they do to the people.
Image Citation
Post, K. (2020). [Libra Renamed Diem]. Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://cointelegraph.com/news/libra-rebrands-to-diem-hoping-to-shake-off-associations
