In an effort to help WhatsApp users transfer money, Facebook is creating a digital currency. Anonymous sources told Bloomberg that the company is working on a stablecoin, which is a cryptocurrency linked to the value of the US dollar, and which according to news is looking at the market for remittances from India.
According to sources, the company is not yet close to making money available and is still developing its strategy, such as how to use custodial assets to protect the value of stablecoin. "Like many other companies, Facebook is exploring ways to harness the power of blockchain technology," said a Facebook spokesperson. "This new small team is exploring many different applications, we have nothing else to share".
Bloomberg noted that there have been many initiatives – over 120 of these – that have carried forward ideas in the neighborhood space. The goal of using this type of cryptocurrency is to create a more stable payment method for daily purchases. WhatsApp has over 200 million users in India and, according to the World Bank, consumers have sent $ 69 billion in the country last year.
The news comes as Facebook was trying to grow its blockchain team, according to a report earlier this month. The report found that the social media company posted a post on its career page that was looking for computer scientists and engineers, software engineers, and a product marketing lead for its blockchain-focused team.
According to the announcement, "the blockchain team is a Facebook startup, with a vision to make blockchain technology work on a Facebook scale. We are exploring many areas of interest on all aspects of blockchain technology."
Facebook already has about a dozen people working on blockchain and digital currency, previously it had been reported. The team is led by the former head of Facebook Messenger David Marcus, who was also a member of the board of directors of Coinbase.
[ad_2]Source link