David Marcus, who was one of the top executives of Meta’s Diem project (formerly Libra) has announced the launch of a new company aiming to expand the capabilities and utility of Bitcoin. His decision to launch his own company came only months after he resigned from Meta.
In a Twitter thread, David announced that the first step in forming the company would be forming a strategic team. Although there are is no strong lead about the new startup, the first round to funding the company is held by Paradigm and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Other investors include Felix Capital, Thrive Capital, Ribbit Capital and Zeev Ventures among others.
Downturns are good moments to focus on building and creating value with mission-aligned people. We’re excited to dive into Lightning, learn more, and work alongside the community. We’ll share more about our work as we make progress!
Marcus will serve as the CEO along with some crypto enthusiasts who worked at Meta in the Diem project. They will also occupy corporate positions in the new company.
After spending several years at Meta, in November 2021 Marcus left the company. Very soon Meta also shut down the Diem initiative.