According to recent reports, Facebook is building a cryptocurrency in order to enable money transfers on WhatsApp.
Just over six months since Facebook Messenger’s top man, David Marcus, took over Facebook’s blockchain efforts, a new report from Bloomberg has revealed new details about the company’s latest developments in cryptocurrencies. The report shows that the Social Network is building a cryptocurrency designed to make it easier to transfer money on WhatsApp.
The cryptocurrency will reportedly focus on India and will be used to help Indian workers abroad send money home, as international transfers are expensive. Many other startups are already trying to solve this issue using cryptocurrencies.
Facebook’s efforts focus around creating a “stablecoin” based on the US dollar’s value to avoid the volatility of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Of course, this piece of news does not sum up Facebook’s efforts with blockchain – just a part of it. Marcus was brought in to look at “how to best leverage Blockchain across Facebook, starting from scratch.” We really don’t know how far that will go.
As a reference, other recent attempts at creating a stablecoin have been fraught with failure and controversy, and there are currently around 120 other such projects in the works across the globe.
In any case, the report at least gives us a glimpse into something concrete that is coming out of Facebook’s efforts in this area. It doesn’t, however, guarantee if or when such efforts will actually produce a viable result.
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