Facebook Libra announces new name—Novi

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The Libra Association, an independent member organization responsible for governance, implementation, and strategy for the Libra network, has released a document announcing that they were rebranding Calibra, the digital wallet for the Libra payment system, by renaming it Novi.

Rebrand and restructure

Rebranding Calibra to Novi is Facebook’s latest move in its restructuring of Libra. Libra has been met with resistance by governments around the world, and rebranding to Novi can be seen as a move that alleviates some of the government scrutiny attached to Facebook’s Libra and its accompanying platforms. 

While we’ve changed our name from Calibra, we haven’t changed our long-term commitment to helping people around the world access affordable financial services.

In terms of Calibra, the rebrand was only surface level, other than the name of the digital wallet changing from Calibra to Novi, nothing has changed under the hood. Which indicates that Facebook was trying to rid themselves of the negative connotation associated with their brand. In addition to changing their digital wallet, Libra announced that Novi will be available as a standalone app as well as available in Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

Libra’s new hires

The rebrand from Calibra to Novi comes on the heels of Facebook appointing Robert Werner, the former FinCEN director, as their first general counsel. 

“I have dedicated my career to combating financial crime and helping complex organizations achieve regulatory compliance, both in government and in the private sector,” said Werner. “I look forward to meaningfully contributing to such an impactful project.”

Werner has experience working in compliance and anti-financial crime and will be an asset to Facebook as they navigate global regulatory frameworks.

A month before announcing Werner as their first general counsel, Libra announced that they were looking to hire 50 individuals in Ireland.

If at first you don’t succeed…

When Facebook first announced Libra, they received pushback from governments all over the world. Shortly afterward, it became clear that Libra would need to make major changes in terms of how it planned to operate before governments approved the launch of Libra. What we are seeing with the rebrand of Calibra and Libra’s new hires, especially their first general counsel being a former FinCEN director, looks like it is the start of Libra’s internal reorganization that will position Libra for what they hope will be a successful launch.