Meta’s top crypto executive David Marcus is leaving the company after seven years, hinting that he may soon be starting his own venture.
Meta is losing the top executive of Novi, its cryptocurrency project. David Marcus, who is also the former head of PayPal, will be leaving the company at the end of the year.
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David Marcus is one of the first tech leaders to embrace blockchain and cryptocurrencies and states that the reason behind the decision rests with his wish to explore other passions outside the organization and pursue his entrepreneurial dreams:
“While there’s still so much to do right on the heels of launching Novi – and I remain as passionate as ever about the need for change in our payments and financial systems – my entrepreneurial DNA has been nudging me for too many mornings in a row to continue ignoring it.”
Marcus joined Facebook in 2014 and led the Messenger unit before creating Diem, and heading the Novi division.
Marcus was primarily responsible for leading Facebook’s Diem cryptocurrency project during several years filled with setbacks and regulatory pushbacks. As a result, the project that saw the succession of Libra to Novi was forced to slow down compared to its initial pace in developing an internal cryptocurrency ecosystem able to facilitate payments within the app.
Earlier this year, the company launched a small pilot program within Novi, allowing users in the United States and Guatemala to exchange “stablecoin” cryptocurrencies using the app.
Meta will replace Marcus with the current head of Product at Novi and former Upwork CEO Stephane Kasriel next year as the Novi crypto payments project head.
Marcus’ departure marks another major exit in the Meta leadership. In September, Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer also announced he was stepping down from his role after 13 years at the company.
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