Facebook has been hit with threats of legal action over its plan to rebrand the Libra stablecoin project to ‘Diem’ from a finance application of the same name.
Facebook announced its plan to rebrand Libra on Dec. 1, with the firm claiming the new name would help the revamped project distance itself from the intense regulatory pushback faced by Libra when it was announced last year.
Diem co-founder and prominent European fintech investor, Chris Adelsbach, told media outleft Sifted that while he was intimidated by the prospect of entering a legal battle with Facebook, he had received legal advice instructing him to protect his brand:
“It wouldn’t have taken that much effort for Facebook to find out if there’s another Diem in financial services […] They obviously took the view that ‘we can just crush them, we’re Facebook.’”
In a statement, Diem CEO Geri Cupi said his company was “flabbergasted” to learn of the Libra Association’s intention to rebrand itself as…