Facebook's cryptocurrency venture to wind down and sell assets

Meta Platforms Inc's digital currency venture Diem Association is winding down and selling its technology to California-based Silvergate Capital Corp for about $200 million, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Meta, formerly Facebook Inc, first unveiled plans for Diem, known as Libra earlier, in June 2019, as part of an effort to expand beyond social networking into e-commerce and global payments.

The project immediately ran into fierce opposition from policymakers globally, who worried it could erode their control over the money system, enable crime, and harm users' privacy.

In the quest for regulatory approvals, Facebook then renamed its digital coin to 'Diem' and scaled down its global ambition to focus on the United States by announcing the launch of a US dollar stablecoin, which are cryptocurrencies pegged to a traditional currency. 

A much recent blow came when Facebook's financial technology executive David Marcus, who was overseeing its efforts to develop Diem, left the company to start working on something new. 

Meta and Silvergate did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment outside business hours.