Tech giant Meta is scaling down its involvement in the cryptocurrency world; at least for now. The parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram is pulling the plug on the crypto-focused digital wallet Novi.
According to the statement on Novi’s official website, the service will stop taking payments on July 21 and shut down completely on September 1. In the meantime, the users have been advised on the steps they need to take in order to withdraw their account balance.
“It’s important that you withdraw any remaining balance in your Novi account before that date,” said the statement. “You can choose to transfer your Novi balance to your bank account or withdraw it as cash where applicable.”
Meta originally envisioned Novi, which launched back in October, as a wallet for their cryptocurrency project Diem. However, regulatory issues forced the company to switch course and instead reimagined Novi as a service that allows users to send and receive funds through Paxos stablecoin. The project was only available in the United States and Guatemala.
When approached for a comment by CoinDesk, Meta said it wouldn’t abandon Novi technology completely and instead plans to use it for future digital ventures.
“We are already leveraging the years spent on building capabilities for Meta overall on blockchain and introducing new products, such as digital collectibles,” said Meta spokesperson.
