Facebook is under pressure to discontinue its new Navi wallet pilot immediately.

Facebook is facing pressure from senators who want its crypto wallet to be taken down just hours after its launch.

Five senators are advocating for halting the crypto wallet project despite the project being launched in partnership with Coinbase. One of the senators, Elizabeth Warren, told Mark Zuckerberg to stop the project immediately. The five senators wrote a letter to Zuckerberg on Tuesday, citing that the company faces many scandals. It is better to address those scandals first than launch a cryptocurrency wallet.

Novi and Diem

Facebook was working on releasing two wallets; Diem and Novi. Diem is a stable coin project, famously known as Libra. Libra faced a lot of scrutiny and regulatory issues for a long time, with many partners pulling out. On the other hand, Novi is a crypto wallet that was created to hold the Diem token and other stable coins.

Novi has partnered with Coinbase to start up pilots in the US in Guatemala on Tuesday to provide crypto custody services. Through the pilot, users will be able to purchase, send and receive tax dollars through the Nova account.

Coinbase CEO, BrianArmstrong, congratulated Diem, citing it takes a lot of perseverance to ignore naysayers and press on.

The fight

The main senators against Facebook’s idea were senators Elizabeth Warren, Brian Schatz, Tina Smith, Richard Blumenthal, and Banking Committee Chairperson Sherrod Brown. They alleged that Facebook has continuously harmed its users and society in general and thus cannot be trusted in making and managing a payment system. According to them, Facebook is not well aligned to manage its risks and ensure consumer safety.

David Marcus, co-creator and a board member of Diem, announced that they are waiting for regulatory approval to move Novi to the Diem payment network.

The firm is ambitious in creating more than just a crypto wallet and stable coin as on Sunday; Facebook announced its plans to create 10,000 jobs in the EU to build its metaverse.

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