Building the future of payments

Diem set out to build something unprecedented: a global, blockchain-based payment system designed to operate at internet scale and within the bounds of international financial law.

The ambition was enormous. So was the scrutiny.

We partnered with Diem to help translate a paradigm-shifting technology into a system that could be understood, trusted, and adopted by regulators, developers, partners, and the public.

The Context

Innovation Under a Microscope

From its inception, Diem operated in one of the most complex environments imaginable.

• Global regulatory oversight across multiple jurisdictions
  
• Deep technical complexity
  
• High public visibility and political sensitivity
  
• A need to communicate credibility without overstatement
  

The challenge wasn’t just building the technology. It was designing trust around it.

The Role We Played

Strategic Partner. System Designer. Steady Hand.

Beginning in 2019, we worked alongside Diem as a long-term partner across strategy, design, and execution.

Our role was to help shape how Diem presented itself to the world, ensuring the clarity of its vision while respecting the realities of global finance, regulation, and governance. From early architecture through launch-ready systems, we helped bring coherence to an ambitious and evolving platform.

What We Built Together

From Protocol to Public-Facing Platform

We supported Diem across the full spectrum of brand, product, and platform expression, ensuring consistency from infrastructure to interface.

Our work included:

• Defining brand and messaging systems grounded in credibility and restraint
• Designing and launching a global website that explained Diem’s mission, governance, and technology
  
• Architecting clear information structures for complex blockchain concepts
  
• Creating explainer videos to humanize and demystify the platform
  
• Designing and launching the Move developer site to support adoption and ecosystem growth
  
• Producing physical expressions of the brand, including letterpress business cards and Diem tokens
  
• Building a merch shop to support community identity without undermining seriousness
  
  

This work supported Diem Networks and the Move programming language, helping bridge the gap between abstract protocol and real-world understanding.

From Experimental Technology to Institutional Signal

The Shift

From opaque innovation to transparent systems.
From raw protocol to comprehensible platform.
From ambition alone to credibility by design.

Every decision balanced clarity with caution, ensuring Diem could communicate value without triggering unnecessary risk.

The Outcome

A Platform Built to Be Taken Seriously

The systems we helped design enabled Diem to:

• Communicate its vision clearly to regulators, partners, and developers
  
• Establish a credible, global-facing presence under intense scrutiny
  
• Support developer adoption through clear documentation and tooling
  
• Maintain brand consistency across digital, physical, and experiential touchpoints
  

In an environment where perception and precision mattered as much as code, design became a stabilizing force.

The Takeaway

In emerging financial systems, trust is the first product.

Before scale. Before adoption. Before growth. Design is how new institutions earn legitimacy.