As big as an entity can get, sometimes, that entity may have to just leave something for others who can do it better, or smarter.
Cryptocurrency is a ludicrous business to some people, but extremely profiting for others. Meta, the former Facebook, may be the largest social media platform the world has ever seen. But when it comes to cryptocurrency, the company is clearly not a match to some of the more popular and more established companies.
And to show that the market is right, the company is shutting down its wallet app, Novi.
Meta announced this decision on the Novi website, saying that the pilot test of its blockchain-based money-transfer app would end in September 2020.
That time will mark the end of a project that once was the company's attempt to build a world-spanning financial network.
Novi was a far cry from what Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and then-Meta executive David Marcus originally envisioned.
Back in 2019, Facebook the company unveiled plans for a stablecoin, initially called Libra, with plans to launch it in 2020, along with a crypto wallet called Calibra. Considering how large and powerful Facebook was, having it inside the financial business soon attracted many criticisms.
Sooner than later, the project faced resistance from regulators around the globe.
After the dust settled, the token was renamed Diem and the wallet was renamed to Novi.
Regardless, the rebrand didn't affect public's affection.
The project continued receiving skepticism.
Novi eventually launched as a money-transfer service using the USDP stablecoin issued by Paxos, not the still-unlaunched Diem, and operating only between the U.S. and Guatemala.
Novi was launched in pilot in an attempt to break into and even dominate the cryptocurrency remittance space.
But when Marcus left Meta in 2021, Meta sold assets related to the project to its banking partner, Silvergate.
It was only after Marcus' departure, that Meta to start downplaying the Novi project.
Novi that was supposed to become brand for all of Meta's financial products, including Facebook Pay, has no place to go.
After Meta's financial operations became Meta Financial Technologies in March, and Facebook Pay became Meta Pay in June, Novi's future is certain.
While Novi's death is set, Meta is not giving up on its blockchain ambitions yet, especially since the company is no longer sees itself as a social media company.
In the world where it sees itself thrive inside the metaverse, Meta wants to support cryptocurrency payments, built directly into Meta Pay.