Facebook has been hit with threats of legal activity over its programme to rebrand the Libra stablecoin project to 'Diem' from a finance application of the aforementioned name.

Facebook announced its plan to rebrand Libra on Dec. one, with the house claiming the new name would help the revamped projection altitude itself from the intense regulatory pushback faced by Libra when it was appear last year.

Diem co-founder and prominent European fintech investor, Chris Adelsbach, told media outlet Sifted that while he was intimidated by the prospect of inbound a legal battle with Facebook, he had received legal communication instructing him to protect his brand:

"It wouldn't have taken that much attempt for Facebook to find out if there'southward some other Diem in fiscal services […] They obviously took the view that 'we can just beat out them, we're Facebook.'"

In a argument, Diem CEO Geri Cupi said his visitor was "flabbergasted" to larn of the Libra Clan's intention to rebrand itself as "Diem," adding:

"Every bit a modest startup, we are concerned that customer defoliation resulting from Libra's actions will significantly touch on our growth."

Diem executed its soft launch in October and has since attracted half a million followers. The platform allows users to instantly sell possessions online and offers debit cards, with Sifted describing the app as "a digital pawnbroker of sorts."

Ripple recently faced a comparable lawsuit from the New Payments Platform Commonwealth of australia, or NPPA, which declared intellectual property infringements stemming from Ripple'south employ of the brand "PayID" to describe its payment standard, despite the NPPA operating the "Pay ID" payments network in Commonwealth of australia from March 2017.

The case was resolved when Ripple registered a new trademark for "Paystring."

Facebook's stablecoin ambitions announced to also be set for a legal showdown with global regulators.

During a Dec. 7 conference between G7 ministers and central bank heads, Germany's finance minister, Olaf Scholz, described the project as "a wolf in sheep's clothing."

Scholz emphasized that Deutschland's lawmakers "will not have its entry into the marketplace" without Facebook demonstrating it has addressed the government's regulatory concerns, calculation:

"We must practice everything possible to brand certain the currency monopoly remains in the easily of states."