Facebook has released a crypto wallet

After more than two years, Facebook is finally launching a “small pilot” of its Novi digital wallet in the United States and Guatemala. In collaboration with Coinbase, the trial service will let users to send and receive money “instantly, securely, and without fees” using the Paxos stablecoin.

According to Facebook’s David Marcus, director of F2 (Facebook Financial), the trial is intended to “test core feature functions and operational capabilities in customer care and compliance,” as well as to show a feasible usage of stablecoins for payments.

David tweeted:

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

The most notable difference is that Novi is starting without its most important feature: the Facebook-backed Diem cryptocurrency, which was supposed to be the project’s cornerstone. Diem was formerly known as Libra until its name was changed in an effort to separate the now-independent organization from Facebook, which was responsible for its inception. Diem, on the other hand, is still awaiting regulatory clearance and has yet to issue its cryptocurrency in any nation.

Libra was heavily criticized when it was originally launched, with many key partners (including PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, eBay, Stripe, and Mercado Pago) withdrawing from the project only a few months later. After suspending attempts to get regulatory clearance for its stablecoin in Switzerland, the firm recently relocated its operations back to the United States.

Marcus did state in his announcement that Novi is dedicated to Diem and will launch with the coin when it becomes available. However, there is no indication of when this will occur in the announcement.