Facebook Stablecoin Wants To Rule Online Payments Market

Facebook Stablecoin Wants To Rule Online Payments Market

Facebook Stablecoin

Facebook’s interest in crypto has been a topic of discussion. The fact notwithstanding that Facebook has not confirmed anything beyond having a blockchain department, information about its digital token project continues to be revealed.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook is talking to major payment networks Visa and MasterCard to raise a $1 billion for its crypto project, which reportedly entails a stablecoin along with a crypto-powered online payments system.

Facebook has been rumored to be involved with cryptocurrencies for at least a year now. In May 2018, the online publication Cheddar reported that Facebook is “very serious” about launching its own digital token for its 2 billion users.

In response, the social media giant did not comment on having a potential cryptocurrency in the works, but shared a short statement regarding its newly established blockchain team:

“Like many other companies, Facebook is exploring ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology. This new small team is exploring many different applications. We don’t have anything further to share.”

The existence of Facebook’s blockchain research team is still the only official confirmation that the social media corporation is involved with crypto. The arm is lead by David Marcus, ex-Paypal president.

By December 2018, the social media corporation’s blockchain team had nearly 40 employees, according to media reports.

By the ending part of 2018, rumors about the Facebook-run cryptocurrency reignited with new details. Specifically, Bloomberg reported that the social media company is making a cryptocurrency for users of the messaging service WhatsApp, which Facebook acquired in 2014.

The token will allegedly allow users to make money transfers within the messaging app and will focus on the remittances market in India, where WhatsApp is reported to have more than 200 million users. According to data from the World Bank, the country received nearly $69 billion in foreign remittances in 2017, which is 2.8% of India’s GDP.

Bloomberg later reported that Facebook is developing a stablecoin, specifying that the social media outlet was still figuring out which asset their token will be tied to.

In response to requests for comment on this, Facebook forwarded the statement about “exploring ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology.”

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