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Facebook is recruiting heavily for its secret blockchain project, suggesting that the social network is moving forward with plans to launch its cryptocurrency.
The recruitment spree arrives a few months after one of the biggest managerial reshuffles in the history of Facebook, which saw the former president of PayPal David Marcus appoint head of an exploratory blockchain group.
Mr. Marcus, who previously was vice president of Facebook Messenger, gave little details about his new role at the time, but said he would report directly to the CTO of Mike Schroepfer company.
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He said in a blog post that the group would "explore how to make the most of blockchain on Facebook, starting from scratch".
With around 2.2 billion monthly active users on its social network, along with billions of users on WhatsApp and Instagram, Facebook has the platform to present the world's first mass-market cryptocurrency.
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On January 3, 2009 the bitcoin genesis block appeared. It was less than a year after the pseudonym creator Satoshi Nakamoto described the cryptocurrency in a document titled "Bitcoin: a peer-to-peer electronic payment system"
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2/8 Bitcoin is used as currency for the first time
On May 22, 2010 the first bitcoin transaction took place in the real world. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins – the equivalent of $ 90 million at today's prices
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3/8 Silk Road opens to business
Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the obscure web. The Silk Road market, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoins
4/8 The first bitcoin ATM will appear
On October 29, 2013 the first bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins in cash
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5/8 The fall of MtGox
The world's largest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing nearly 750,000 of its bitcoin customers. At the time, it was about 7% of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed
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6/8 The real Satoshi Nakamoto would get up, please
In 2015, Australian police broke into Craig Wright's home after the businessman claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto. Then terminate the complaint
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7/8 The great division of Bitcoin
On 1 August 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the division of the network. The fork of bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology has generated a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin money
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8/8 Bitcoin price sky rockets
Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin rose to almost $ 20,000. This represented an increase of 1,300% compared to its price at the beginning of the year
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1/8 Satoshi Nakamoto creates the first bitcoin block in 2009
On January 3, 2009 the bitcoin genesis block appeared. It was less than a year after the pseudonym creator Satoshi Nakamoto described the cryptocurrency in a document titled "Bitcoin: a peer-to-peer electronic payment system"
Reuters
2/8 Bitcoin is used as currency for the first time
On May 22, 2010 the first bitcoin transaction took place in the real world. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins – the equivalent of $ 90 million at today's prices
Lazlo Hanyecz
3/8 Silk Road opens to business
Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the obscure web. The Silk Road market, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoins
4/8 The first bitcoin ATM will appear
On October 29, 2013 the first bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins in cash
REUTERS / Dimitris Michalakis
5/8 The fall of MtGox
The world's largest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing nearly 750,000 of its bitcoin customers. At the time, it was about 7% of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed
Getty Images
6/8 The real Satoshi Nakamoto would get up, please
In 2015, Australian police broke into Craig Wright's home after the businessman claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto. Then terminate the complaint
Getty Images
7/8 The great division of Bitcoin
On 1 August 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the division of the network. The fork of bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology has generated a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin money
REUTERS
8/8 Bitcoin price sky rockets
Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin rose to almost $ 20,000. This represented an increase of 1,300% compared to its price at the beginning of the year
Reuters
About 40 people work under Mr. Marcus following the recent recruitment campaign, including several former executives of PayPal, according to a report by Cheddar.
The job announcements state that "the ultimate goal" of Facebook with its blockchain group is to "help billions of people to access things they do not have now". Such things could include "fair financial services, new ways to save or new ways to share information," the list says.
Facebook has yet to provide further details on the project, following several requests from L & # 39; Independent.
"Like many other companies, Facebook is exploring ways to harness the power of blockchain technology," a Facebook spokesperson said.
"This new small team is exploring many different applications, we have nothing else to share".
The head of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg has previously expressed interest in the cryptocurrency and blockchain technology that bitcoin has made popular. (AFP / Getty Images)
In January, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote a Facebook post discussing the potential of decentralized currencies and other technologies.
"One of the most interesting questions of technology right now is centralization versus decentralization, with the rise of a small number of large technology companies, and many people now believe that technology centralizes power rather than decentralizing it," wrote Zuckerberg .
"There are important counter-trends to this – like cryptography and cryptocurrency – that take power from centralized systems and put it back into people's hands."
Since the publication of the post, Facebook has been involved in a series of scandals that affect the way it handles user data, which allegedly led to problems with recruiting for the new project.
The decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies means that people working in the industry are generally wary of large, centralized companies like Facebook.
