Facebook starts testing its Novi wallet in the US and Guatemala, letting users trade the Paxos Dollar; Coinbase will provide custody services
the US and Guatemala. People can send and receive money instantly, securely, and with no fees. 1/8 David Marcus / @davidmarcus : I do want to be clear that our support for Diem hasn't changed and we intend to launch Novi with Diem once it receives regulatory approval and goes live. We care about interoperability and we want to do it right. 5/8 @novi : Say goodbye to delays and fees and say 👋 to Novi — currently rolling out in Guatemala and most of the United States on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Check back here for the latest updates on availability, or visit http://www.novi.com/ https://twitter.com/... Brian Armstrong / @brian_armstrong : Congrats @davidmarcus and team! It takes a lot of perseverance to ignore the haters and ship. https://twitter.com/... David Marcus / @davidmarcus : We're doing a pilot to test core feature functions, and our operational capabilities in customer care and compliance. We're also hopeful this will demonstrate a new stablecoin use case (as a payments instrument) beyond how they are typically used today. 2/8 Kate Rooney / @kr00ney : Facebook chooses Coinbase as partner to custody assets for new Novi wallets, meant for international transfers and remittances 💸 Also interesting that Novi's pilot is with USDP (Pax Dollar) vs. USDC, or other cryptocurrencies $COIN https://blog.coinbase.com/... https://twitter.com/... Walter Hessert / @whessert : Excited that the Pax Dollar (USDP) has been chosen as the stablecoin for @Facebook's Novi wallet pilot!! Major day for stablecoins overall. Huge testament to @PaxosGlobal's commitment to transparency, trust and regulatory clarity! #novi #usdp https://twitter.com/... Gianni Di Mattia / @giannidimattia6 : $FB pulled out the bazooka this morning. Tbh this won't be material to their bottom line, but could totally see speculators eating and bidding this up on the news. https://twitter.com/... David Marcus / @davidmarcus : @beller I think it was 🔥🍑 actually. @akadosang : Next step will probably be to incorporate payments in-app (instagram, whatsup and facebook itself) Watch Facebook turn into the world's biggest bank (regarding number of users) in a matter of days https://twitter.com/... Walter Hessert / @whessert : Prediction: Free remittances across all of Latam within 24 months... ROW to follow. Thanks to @davidmarcus and @novi team for their tireless work to get us a leap closer today with launch of their pilot using #USDP. Exciting day! #stablecoins Luke Loreti / @lhloreti : @TheStalwart Consumer facing? Maybe. AWS has Managed Blockchain for spinning up nodes https://aws.amazon.com/... @jonst0kes : This is a huge, non-scammy, extremely pro-poor & pro-worker, disruptive application of crypto. Sure, crypto haters will sputter about how we could address this w/ sparkle pony solutions like busting up fintech cartels. Meanwhile, the crypto solution has shipped & will be used. https://twitter.com/... @gladstein : @TheStalwart Twitter Lightning integration?
The pilot separates the wallet’s market entry from Diem’s approval timetable: Novi is launching with Paxos Dollar while Facebook retains its stated plan to support Diem when it is cleared.
First-order effects
Users in the United States and Guatemala gain access to Novi transfers using Paxos Dollar, while Coinbase becomes the wallet’s custody provider.
Facebook can test Novi’s distribution and custody arrangement without waiting for Diem, though its intended Diem launch remains contingent on regulatory approval.
Second-order effects
Diem’s regulatory path becomes more consequential to Facebook’s product roadmap because the company is operating Novi with another stablecoin in the interim.
Coinbase gains a role in a Facebook wallet pilot, placing a specialist custody provider inside Novi’s initial operating model.
Third-order effects
If large platforms continue to launch wallets around already-available stablecoins while their own currencies await approval, wallet distribution and stablecoin issuance may become more separable layers of the payments stack.
The pilot illustrates a shift toward wallets as a permission layer: regulatory acceptance of the asset and operational trust in custody can determine which payment products reach users first.
The trend: Consumer crypto wallets are being brought to market through regulated stablecoin and custody partnerships while platform-backed currencies face separate approval hurdles.
Remittances are a critical way to achieve financial inclusion. Today, we're rolling out a small pilot of the @Novi digital wallet app in two countries — the US and Guatemala. People can send and receive money instantly, securely, and with no fees. 1/8
I do want to be clear that our support for Diem hasn't changed and we intend to launch Novi with Diem once it receives regulatory approval and goes live. We care about interoperability and we want to do it right. 5/8
Say goodbye to delays and fees and say 👋 to Novi — currently rolling out in Guatemala and most of the United States on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Check back here for the latest updates on availability, or visit http://www.novi.com/ https://twitter.com/...
We're doing a pilot to test core feature functions, and our operational capabilities in customer care and compliance. We're also hopeful this will demonstrate a new stablecoin use case (as a payments instrument) beyond how they are typically used today. 2/8
Facebook chooses Coinbase as partner to custody assets for new Novi wallets, meant for international transfers and remittances 💸 Also interesting that Novi's pilot is with USDP (Pax Dollar) vs. USDC, or other cryptocurrencies $COIN https://blog.coinbase.com/... https://twitter.co…
Excited that the Pax Dollar (USDP) has been chosen as the stablecoin for @Facebook's Novi wallet pilot!! Major day for stablecoins overall. Huge testament to @PaxosGlobal's commitment to transparency, trust and regulatory clarity! #novi #usdp https://twitter.com/...
It always amazes me that Facebook runs experiments like this by just picking countries at random to try stuff in. In 2017, they unilaterally changed how the news feed algorithm worked in Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Bolivia, Guatemala and Serbia, just to see what would happen. …
$FB pulled out the bazooka this morning. Tbh this won't be material to their bottom line, but could totally see speculators eating and bidding this up on the news. https://twitter.com/...
Next step will probably be to incorporate payments in-app (instagram, whatsup and facebook itself) Watch Facebook turn into the world's biggest bank (regarding number of users) in a matter of days https://twitter.com/...
Prediction: Free remittances across all of Latam within 24 months... ROW to follow. Thanks to @davidmarcus and @novi team for their tireless work to get us a leap closer today with launch of their pilot using #USDP. Exciting day! #stablecoins
This is a huge, non-scammy, extremely pro-poor & pro-worker, disruptive application of crypto. Sure, crypto haters will sputter about how we could address this w/ sparkle pony solutions like busting up fintech cartels. Meanwhile, the crypto solution has shipped & will be used. ht…
The idea that countries should have a say in large-scale social experiments run on their population is foreign to Facebook. In the US, Congress can at least summon an exec or two for grilling. Guatemala just has to take it, whether it's misinformation in 2017 or remittances now.
Coinbase announced it's custody got Facebook Novi and exclusive partner to the NBA and video games on the same day. Damn. https://blog.coinbase.com/...
Usability in crypto is generally terrible, but Facebook did a good job hiding the blockchain stuff to make its new Novi wallet easy https://twitter.com/...