Facebook’s parent company “META” has announced that they will be shutting down their digital wallet for cryptocurrency “NOVI” on September 1, 2022. It has been barely a year of the product’s existence and in that period, the product didn’t even make it to a full launch as the project is being terminated at the pilot stage.

Meta has issued an advanced warning that users will no longer be able to login into their Novi accounts after the announced product expiry date and the Novi app’s integration with WhatsApp will no longer be available effective immediately.

The move is coming on the back of the current cryptocurrency bear market that has fuelled concerns in the general financial ecosystem. From July 21, Novi users will no longer be able to add currency of any type to the Novi wallet and the app users are strongly advised to withdraw all their money in the app.

Novi app customers in the United States and Guatemala can withdraw the money directly to their bank accounts while users in Guatemala can also optionally withdraw their cash and get it from the nearest money withdrawal location.

Bloomberg first spotted and reported the notice that says that if any app user still has money in the app after the date given for complete closure of service, the company will attempt to transfer that money to the credit card or bank account you added to your Novi profile.

Users can also still request a copy of all profile and transaction information until the date of closure of service. While it looks like this is the beginning of the end of Meta’s digital wallet plans, the company has not given up on new ideas.

In a statement to Bloomberg, Meta said it was already planning to introduce new products such as digital collectibles, leveraging on the years already spent on building capabilities for Meta overall.

Featured image source: WeRSM