TLDR – The Libra Association has rebranded as the Diem Association in an attempt to distance itself from previous efforts and controversy over Facebook’s involvement. Almost immediately, the Diem Association was threatened with a lawsuit by a financial startup alleging brand and copyright infringement. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

On 1 December 2020, the Libra association announced a rebranding to the Diem Association in preparation for its first stablecoin launch sometime in 2021. Diem’s new CEO, Stuart Levey declared the name change as signaling the “project’s growing maturity and independence.”

This is not the first name change for Facebook’s coin project, having been known as “GlobalCoin” and “Facebook coin” before adopting the Libra name in 2019.

The Diem rebrand also follows on the heels of a wallet name change from Calibra to Novi in May 2020.

The press release also identified the appointment of “world-class professionals to help lead the Association and Diem Networks, the subsidiary that is the regulated payment system operator.” New personnel included the appointment of Dahlia Malkhi as the Association’s Chief Technology Officer, Christy Clark as Chief of Staff, Steve Bunnell as Chief Legal Officer, and Kiran Raj as Executive Vice President for Growth and Innovation and Deputy General Counsel.

This announcement follows the recent appointments of James Emmett as Managing Director, Sterling Daines as Chief Compliance Officer, Ian Jenkins as Chief Financial and Risk Officer, and Saumya Bhavsar as General Counsel. 

Almost immediately following the announcement of the name change, the Diem Association was threatened with a lawsuit by a UK-based financial startup with an application of the same name. Ironically enough, this is not the first time Libra has faced either brand or copyright challenges.

Libra / Diem rebranding announcement:

https://www.diem.com/en-us/updates/diem-association/

Report on the potential Diem app lawsuit:

Facebook’s Newly Renamed Diem Cryptocurrency Threatened With A Lawsuit Over Branding (cryptopotato.com)