Diem is getting underway

Diem has been through several iterations since it was first announced in June 2019, with adjustments not being limited to just a change of name. Now those behind the project are beginning to reveal where they expect Diem to sit within financial markets and how the stablecoin will overcome regulatory and structural hurdles as it enters use.

On 11 February, an OMFIF audience heard Diem’s plans of becoming a bridge between traditional banking and new, digital assets. Christian Catalini, chief economist at the Diem Association and co-creator of Diem, tackled many of the concerns surrounding it, presenting it as a tightly regulated organisation that is also incorporating some of the best features of new digital currencies.

Diem had already made the transition to focus on single currency stablecoins fully backed by reserves, concentrating on the Diem dollar initially and abandoning a move toward a permissionless system in the future. Catalini went further at the OMFIF meeting, detailing how Diem will not allow the stablecoin to be fractionalised or leveraged elsewhere.

In his session with OMFIF’s Digital Monetary Institute, Catalini also gave new insights into the ongoing regulatory process. Diem, in its payment license application, is essentially being treated as a new bank by its regulator, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, Catalini said. Diem’s reserves follow closely Basel III’s capital requirements and incorporate additional buffers to account for redemptions…

Diem has always maintained that there will be no fractionalisation of reserves, but concerns about how to enforce this have lingered. Even without lending by the issuer, virtual asset service providers, such as wallet suppliers or operators, could engage in fractional reserve banking with the coins as collateral. Catalini revealed that Diem will address this risk with new requirements for these service providers to back liabilities fully with Diem coins.

This makes ‘Diem different relative to any stablecoin today’, Catalini said.

Developing…one lesson is never underestimate projects initiated or sponsored by Facebook! And more generally, the continued interest in stablecoins (which are not appreciating, by definition) shows there is very real interest in some kind of direct digital transfer mechanism, call it money if you wish.  So I am happy to see some major players moving to fill this space and in a manner designed not to collapse once the regulators get their paws on it.

Here is the full story and further detail.

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