Facebook’s Libra project was met with skepticism, and it’s now changed its name to Novi with the matching domain Novi.com.
News of the announcement on Facebook disclosed the domain rebranding, to the short “novi” that is inspired from the Latin words “novus” and “via” for “new way.”
The Libra and Calibra cryptocurrency and cryptowallet project is not even one year old!
A New Digital Wallet for Libra
May 26, 2020
Today, we’re excited to introduce Novi — the new name and brand for the digital wallet that will help people send and hold Libra digital currencies. 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. Whether you’re sending money home to support the family members who supported you, or you’re receiving money from your friends no matter where they are, the Novi wallet will make money work better for everyone.
Novi was inspired by the Latin words “novus” for “new” and “via” for “way.” It’s a new way to send money, and Novi’s new visual identity and design represent the fluid movement of digital currencies. We’ve also included a nod to the Libra icon in the brand logo to underscore our commitment to the Libra network.
With Novi, sending money will be as easy as sending a message. You’ll be able to use Novi as a stand-alone app, as well as in Messenger and WhatsApp. There will be no hidden charges to add, send, receive, or withdraw money and your transfers will arrive instantly. All Novi customers will be verified using government-issued ID, and fraud protections will be built in throughout the app. And, whenever you need it, you’ll have 24/7 access to our chat-based support and customer care team.
Our hope is to introduce an early version of Novi when the Libra network is available. We’ll roll it out in an initial set of countries, with features that will make cross-border money transfers instant, secure, and with no hidden fees. If you’d like to be one of the first to know when Novi becomes available in your country, sign up for updates at Novi.com.
About Novi
Novi Financial was founded with the mission of making money work better for everyone. We believe that all people around the world should have equal access to financial services. The first product Novi Financial will introduce is the Novi digital wallet designed for Libra, a new payment system which is built on innovative blockchain technology. Novi Financial is a subsidiary of Facebook that operates independently from Facebook, and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.
The sale of the domain Novi.com by previous registrant, Novi Tec, appears to have taken place sometime in April, using the services of a third party negotiator, most likely. Although Facebook pays a fair market price for domain names, using a third party or “proxy buyer” ensures that the amount paid is not extravagant.
Novi definitely sounds better than Libra, as Facebook only secured Libra.org and not Libra.com.
Hundreds of “Libra domains” are now useless, and domain investors or speculators riding on the coattails of a brand in the making are expected to turn their sights to Novi.
Facebook is one step ahead, however, as it has also registered FacebookNovi.com, .net and .org as a defensive array of domain registrations.
Note: Facebook is only changing its Calibra brand, while keeping Libra as the cryptocurrency.
Story kudos: Dale G.
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It appears Libra is still the name of the cryptocurrency and it is just the wallet name that is changing to Novi.
Seems like the Novi name is going to be the consumer facing brand- likely a smart move since “Libra” and “Calibra” would be confusing and Novi is shorter and as you pointed out- they grabbed the dot com! In addition, they smartly have the twitter as well for the exact match @novi.
I am sure you are right that the rush of Novi names will now be on- unfortunately.
Mike
Nice name! More like this at catchy.com
Michael – Thanks for the clarification!
Francois! Naturellement!