Share this article
Facebook-Backed Diem Partners With Silvergate Bank to Issue US Dollar Stablecoin
Diem is moving its "primary operations" from Switzerland to the U.S.
By Nikhilesh De
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 12:54 p.m. Published May 12, 2021, 8:26 p.m.
The Diem Association, the Facebook-linked group building a stablecoin, is partnering with Silvergate Bank to launch a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Diem Networks US, a subsidiary of the association, will run the Diem Payments Network and register as a money services business with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), while Silvergate will be the formal issuer of the Diem USD stablecoin. Silvergate will also manage the reserve backing the token.
The DPN will be a permissioned network, allowing only approved participants to transact, according to the Wednesday announcement. Silvergate already operates its own payments network, the Silvergate Exchange Network, and provides support for stablecoin transactions.
Diem, formerly known as Libra, will also move its operations out of Switzerland and withdraw its application for a Swiss Financial Markets Authority license, the press release said.
"We are committed to a payment system that is safe for consumers and businesses, makes payments faster and cheaper, and takes advantage of blockchain technology to bring the benefits of the financial system to more people around the world. We look forward to working with Silvergate to realize this shared vision," Diem CEO Stuart Levey said in a statement.
The move represents a sharp departure from Diem's origins as the Libra Association, which was announced by Facebook in the summer of 2019 and formally created as a partnership with buy-in from a host of different companies in Switzerland that fall.
Diem hoped to launch a FINMA-approved product as recently as this past December.
The then-Libra Association abandoned the original stablecoin vision – as a token backed by a basket composed of different fiat currencies – after regulatory pushback from policymakers worldwide, instead choosing to launch a set of tokens, each backed by a single fiat currency.
The dollar stablecoin will be the first pilot project to launch, CNBC reported last month.
UPDATE (May 12, 2021, 20:55 UTC): Updated with additional information and context.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Traders mull the bottom as bitcoin returns to week's lows below $86,000
One analyst isn't quite ready to call a bottom, but says bitcoin is surely in an oversold condition.
What to know:
- Bitcoin's early rally Wednesday seems a faint memory as the price has returned to the week's lows.
- Precious metals continue to get bid, with silver rushing to yet another new record and gold closing in on an all-time high.
- One analyst cautioned against reading too much into the current bitcoin price action due to year-end positioning and tax considerations.
Top Stories
