According to Gizmodo, Facebook is getting ready to dive into the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain. These developments have been obscured over the past year by numerous PR nightmares like the Cambridge Analytica scandal and other privacy issues. Still, the social media giant plans to allow users to exchange cryptocurrency through its encrypted chat service, WhatsApp.
The cryptocurrency and blockchain efforts will be headed by David Marcus, former president of PayPal and most recently Vice President of Messaging Services at Facebook.
“After nearly four unbelievably rewarding years leading Messenger, I have decided it was time for me to take on a new challenge,” Marcus wrote in a Facebook post back in May. “I’m setting up a small group to explore how to best leverage Blockchain across Facebook, starting from scratch.”
Despite the plethora of setbacks that led to Facebook being one of the least trusted companies in America, they still intend to go ahead with their cryptocurrency plan. They are interested in the remittance markets in India and “exploring ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology,” according to a spokesperson.
Specifically, they are developing what is called a stablecoin, which is a type of cryptocurrency that is tied to the U.S dollar. People involved in the internal plans asked not to be identified, but told Bloomberg that the stablecoin is being built to minimize volatility. This strategy, which includes a plan for custody assets, is still in its developmental stages and will not be released any time soon. Much like its parent company, WhatsApp has not exactly been making headlines thanks to its innovation in blockchain and cryptocurrency, Instead, the messaging service has recently been entrenched in scandal relating to encrypted child pornography problem on its platform, according to a report by TechCrunch. Facebook has yet to seriously address this problem.
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