Meta’s Head of Digital Currency has left the company
David Marcus, a leading executive at Meta Platforms and co-creator of the anticipated digital currency Diem, has announced that he is leaving the company after seven years to pursue other endeavours.
Marcus’ former employer, Meta, formally known as Facebook Inc., has struggled through a series of red tape issues in its attempts to expand its products into the cryptocurrency marketplace, including with its recent launch of digital wallet Novi, and the anticipated token Diem.
In a thread of tweets posted on Tuesday, Marcus expressed his resignation was prompted by his desire to explore new opportunities outside of the social networking giant and that “while there is still so much to do on the heels of launching Novi… my entrepreneurial DNA has been nudging me for too many mornings in a row to continue ignoring it.”
Marcus took over Facebook’s financial projects unit in 2018 and has been a key driver behind the company’s first attempt to launch Libra, a blockchain-based payment system. Libra was subsequently rebranded to Diem, and its standalone crypto wallet app Novi.
Both projects were set to roll out at the start of 2020, however, both have been mired in a series of regulatory concerns stemming from Facebook’s previous alleged issues with data privacy and its inability to meet regulatory requirements around money handling.
Current Vice-President of product at Novi, Stephane Kasriel, will take over Marcus’ role.
“I’ve learned so much working with you and I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done for this place. We wouldn’t have taken such a big swing at Diem without your leadership,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg said via a comment on Marcus’ Facebook announcement.
