Zuckerberg is fighting again for stablecoins, but the era has changed.

Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

Author | Azuma (@azuma_eth)

Zuckerberg is making a comeback.

CoinDesk reports this morning that sources reveal Meta plans to re-enter the stablecoin space later this year, having already issued a product request for proposals to third-party companies to help manage its stablecoin-based payment services.

The Dead on Arrival Libra

This is not Meta’s first attempt to enter the stablecoin market.

As early as June 2019, Meta (then still called Facebook) co-launched the Libra Association with 28 companies and organizations from the tech, finance, and social impact sectors, including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Uber, and others, aiming to launch a global digital currency called Libra on the Libra blockchain, backed by a basket of fiat currencies.

At that time, blockchain was just beginning to enter mainstream awareness, stablecoins had appeared but had not yet scaled. The traditional world was mostly watching and cautious about blockchain and stablecoins, but Meta saw the potential to reshape the financial system. It became the first tech giant to actively participate, aiming to leverage its billions of users and Libra’s iterative design to disrupt global payment networks and create a “global infrastructure-level” growth story.

Unfortunately, Libra’s concept of a “super-sovereign currency” faced fierce opposition from central banks and financial regulators worldwide. Concerns over weakening monetary sovereignty, threats to financial stability, and increased AML/KYC risks led many countries to strongly oppose it. The U.S. Congress even called for multiple hearings with Zuckerberg himself — during which Facebook was embroiled in the Cambridge data leak scandal, and Zuckerberg faced overt hostility, which objectively increased the difficulty of Libra’s progress.

Under heavy pressure, early partners like Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal withdrew, and Facebook was forced to scale back its strategy — rebranding Libra as Diem, shifting from a basket-backed “new digital currency” to a single “USD stablecoin.”

But this survival strategy failed. In 2022, Meta (by then renamed) sold off Diem-related assets, marking the end of this premature “global digital currency revolution,” and Meta exited the stablecoin race. Notably, although the Libra/Diem project ended, the original team used the development experience to build well-known Layer 1 projects like Sui and Aptos using the Move language — talent and technological spillover remain Meta’s true legacy in the industry.

Looking back, we can summarize Libra’s failure in one sentence — A tech giant with billions of users, at a time when new technological concepts were not yet fully understood, aggressively pushed into the boundaries of traditional fiat currency systems and ultimately was defeated by strong regulatory backlash.

Making a Comeback in Stablecoins

According to CoinDesk, Meta’s plan to re-enter the stablecoin arena has not been publicly announced, but sources reveal that, learning from the Libra/Diem failure, Meta intends to partner with a third-party provider to manage its stablecoin-based payment services and launch a new wallet.

One source said: “They want to do this, but don’t want to be directly involved.”

This statement already hints at a fundamental strategic shift for Meta — from “issuing its own currency, building its own chain, and developing its own ecosystem” to “leveraging infrastructure and operating within a compliant framework for front-end distribution and scenario integration.”

The same source also mentioned that Stripe, a fintech company that acquired the stablecoin payment infrastructure platform Bridge last year, could be a candidate service provider for Meta’s re-entry into the stablecoin space. Stripe is a long-term partner of Meta, and its CEO Patrick Collison joined Meta’s board in April 2025.

In their 2025 annual summary, Stripe disclosed that its stablecoin payment volume doubled year-over-year to approximately $400 billion. Although the crypto market was sluggish during the same period, the expansion of real-world applications has led stablecoin usage to gradually decouple from crypto asset price cycles.

Mark Zuckerberg, the man himself, the times have changed!

If 2019 was still the wild frontier of stablecoin development, by 2026, the market has entered a period of mature order.

• Back then, stablecoins were just a trading medium within the crypto world; now, they form the foundational layer for cross-border payments, on-chain settlements, DeFi collateralization, and real-world asset mapping.
• Back then, regulators were vague, fearful, and hostile toward “stablecoins”; now, the GENIUS Act has been passed, and compliant issuance pathways are becoming clearer. USD stablecoins are even seen as tools to strengthen the dollar’s international standing.
• Back then, the traditional world watched from afar; now, financial giants and tech giants are entering the space.

Native stablecoins like USDT and USDC have already built solid moats in scale and distribution; traditional players like BlackRock and Fidelity, as well as tech giants like PayPal and Stripe, have entered the market; Meta’s direct competitors on social platforms, like X, are expected to soon integrate more comprehensive crypto trading services directly into their front-end.

Zuckerberg was once the “first to take a risk” in the traditional world, but Libra’s overreach led to its demise due to institutional resistance; now, entering again with more caution, he has already lost the first-mover advantage.

This time, Zuckerberg faces a mature, relatively crowded market with clearer rules and many industry giants, transforming Meta’s role from “narrative leader” to “business participant.”

With its vast user network, Meta still holds an advantage in distribution. A second entry might not fail again, but even if successful, it’s unlikely to realize Zuckerberg’s grand vision from the past.