Facebook has been working pretty intensively on a crypto project and building a blockchain division.
The company has not been talking too much about the aim or the progress of the coin, but it seems that they have hired about 30 people so far to the division with David Marcus who is the former head of Messenger and also previous PayPal president.
Now, he’s leading the division at Facebook as “Director of Engineering, Blockchain.”
Facebook wants to raise $1 billion
The latest reports claim that Facebook is looking for VC companies to invest in its crypto projects and the plans are to raise $1 billion, says NY Times reporter Nathaniel Popper.
The company is allegedly working on a stablecoin for WhatsApp using a basket of foreign currencies as collateral, says CryptoSlate.
Just the other day, Nathaniel Popper posted a few tweets with fresh data that has been gathered from various sources and are detailing Facebook’s blockchain project.
The online publication mentioned above reports that based on Facebook’s financial statements, the company has $10 billion in cash and cash equivalents alone.
Update on Facebook's cryptocurrency: Sources tell me that Facebook is now looking to get VC firms to invest in the Facebook cryptocurrency project we reported on earlier this year. I hear they are targeting big sums — as much as $1b.
— Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) April 8, 2019
“Popper speculates that because one of the blockchain’s appealing properties is decentralization, then acquiring outside investors could help “present the project as more decentralized and less controlled by Facebook,” CryptoSlate writes.
Given that one of the big allures of blockchain projects is the decentralization, getting outside investors could help Facebook present the project as more decentralized and less controlled by Facebook.
— Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) April 8, 2019
Stablecoin backed by a basket of foreign currencies
Unlike most stablecoins, Facebook’s would be backed by a basket of foreign currencies, and this would make it even more resilient to volatility even against currency exchange rates.
“One person I spoke with said that Facebook is talking about using the money as collateral for its cryptocurrency. Facebook has been designing the coin to keep a stable value, pegged to a basket of foreign currencies held in bank accounts,” Popper said.
This could reportedly disrupt the need for industries such as Forex.
Popper concluded by saying that it’s pretty interesting to note the fact that one of the wealthiest companies on the planet is raising money.
