Facebook’s NOVI Digital Wallet Goes Live With Paxos Stablecoin, Coinbase Will Act As Custodian

On Tuesday, October 19, social media giant Facebook announced that launch of its native cryptocurrency digital wallet NOVI. The launch is currently in the pilot stage as the NOVI wallet app will be available only to a few select customers in the United States and Guatemala.

Facebook’s head of crypto David Marcus noted: “The U.S-Guatemala remittance corridor is an important one. In Guatemala, 56% of people lack access to financial services, despite nearly 100% having mobile phones. Money sent from family & friends abroad contributes more than 14% of GDP and 90% of those remittances come from the US”.

For now, the NOVI digital wallet will support stablecpon Paxos Dollar (USDP) as the special media giant enters into a partnership with pacts and Coinbase.

Facebook’s Marcus said that the USDP is a trusted and widely supported stablecoin operating for more than three years into operation. USDP is a completely regulated stablecoin issued by the Paxos Trust Company and is 100% backed by USD and other cash equivalents. Novi users can access the Paxos Dollars through their Novi accounts.

On the other hand, Coinbase will serve as a custodian for the USDP. The crypto exchange noted: “Coinbase is supporting Novi via Coinbase Custody, which keeps user funds secure with our proprietary, fully segregated cold storage capability for managing private keys”.

However, one thing that’s missing with the NOVI wallet launch is the launch of Facebook’s native cryptocurrency Diem. It seems that the social media giant hasn’t been able to convince the regulators yet regarding it. But Marcus assured that once they get the regulatory clearance, Novi users will be able to swap Diem through their digital wallets.

Furthermore, Marcus also stated that the future version of Novi will be able to facilitate free person-to-person payments. Such fee-less transactions will distinguish it from other competitors like PayPal.

Facebook has been facing a solid brunt for dealing with user data privacy. The social media giant has found itself at the middle of several controversies. Assuring the NOVI users a strong privacy protection, Facebook noted: “We know privacy is top of mind for NOVI customers, so it will always be top of mind for us. We prioritize the security and privacy of people’s information by encrypting sensitive financial information. We have built-in protections against fraud and entire team dedicated to that work. If we determine a transaction is unauthorized, we provide a full refund back to a person’s NOVI wallet.