TY - JOUR T1 - Facebook’s Digital Currency Venture “Diem”: the new Frontier ... or a Galaxy far, far away? JF - Technology Innovation Management Review Y1 - 2020 A1 - Jahja Rrustemi A1 - Nils S. Tuchschmid KW - Bitcoin KW - blockchain KW - crypto assets KW - cryptocurrencies KW - Diem KW - Diem Association KW - digital currency KW - distributed ledger technology KW - Facebook KW - fiat currencies KW - financial inclusion KW - Financial industry KW - Libra KW - local currencies KW - tokenization AB - This article focuses on Facebook's new digital currency, initially called "Libra" and renamed in December 2020 "Diem", that has been designed and proposed by the Diem Association (formerly the Libra Association). It briefly reflects on the historical meaning of money and currency, as well as "local currencies" viewed as precursors to the new "digital currencies" or "cryptocurrencies". The paper presents a general overview of the Diem project, particularly from the perspective of financial theory and practise. It looks specifically into Diem's business model and analyzes the project's planned and potential revenue streams, according to official documents published by the Diem Association. The research identifies potential obstacles and hurdles this digital currency would (since it has not happened yet) face on launch day and assesses whether the project is feasible in its current form. In the authors' view, although some early concerns were addressed in the Diem White Paper 2.0, the Diem project is only questionably ready for commercial launch in its current state. Speaking directly to the financial aspects of the Diem Association's project, the current regulatory hurdles and institutional pressures seem difficult to bypass without making some additional noticeable and meaningful changes to Diem. PB - Talent First Network CY - Ottawa VL - 10 UR - timreview.ca/article/1407 IS - 12 U1 - Haute Ecole de Gestion Fribourg Jahja Rrustemi is a scientific collaborator at the Haute Ecole de Gestion Fribourg (HEG-FR), University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland. He holds a Master of Science in Wealth Management at the University of Geneva. The main focus of his research relates to Portfolio Allocation Methods, Risk Minimization, Forward-looking Risk Measures as well as Cryptocurrencies and the Tokenization of the economy. U2 - Haute Ecole de Gestion Fribourg Nils S. Tuchschmid is professor of Finance and head of the Finance Institute at the Haute Ecole de Gestion Fribourg (HEG-FR), University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland. Before joining HEG-FR, Nils was a Partner, Head of Tactical Trading Strategies and Chairman of the Investment Committee at Tages Group. Previously, he was the Co-Head of the Alternative Funds Advisory team at UBS and Head of Multi-Manager Portfolios at Credit-Suisse. He also worked as Strategist and Head of quantitative research and alternative investments at Banque Cantonale Vaudoise. Nils was Professor of Banking and Finance at HEG Geneva and Professor of Finance at HEC Lausanne University. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Geneva. ER -