Meta is set to end its 10-month pilot of digital wallet Novi.

The Novi App and Novi on Meta’s WhatsApp messaging service will no longer be available from 1 September, with Novi advising users to withdraw their balance.

Meta’s first foray into the cryptocurrency world, Novi launched in October 2021 in the US and Guatemala and was conceived as a solution for users to send and hold the company’s digital currency Libra.

In an announcement shared on its website, Novi said: “If you have money remaining in your Novi account after the pilot ends on September 1, 2022, we’ll attempt to transfer your balance to the bank account or debit card you’ve added to Novi.”

A spokesperson for Meta commented: “We have notified Novi pilot participants that we are ending the pilot programme at this time.

“We will be taking forward the technology we developed and what we have learned from the program into future products across the company as we focus on building for the metaverse.

“We are already leveraging the years spent on building capabilities for Meta overall on blockchain and introducing new products, such as digital collectibles. You can expect to see more from us in the web3 space because we’re very optimistic about the value these technologies can bring to people and businesses in the metaverse.”

The news follows the announcement June that Meta is changing the name of its own payments solution from Facebook Pay to Meta Pay.

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