Facebook cryptocurrency like bitcoin
According to a report from Cheddar, Facebook will be the latest company to develop a virtual coin. It’s unclear what the currency will be called, but anonymous sources familiar with the situation told the outlet the social media platform is “very serious” about blockchain technology and their in-development virtual coin.
It’s not exactly news that Facebook has been investigating the potential uses for blockchain tech in their business. As Cheddar notes, the company’s Morgan Beller was looking into the technology as far back as a year ago. More recently, Recode reported Messenger VP David Marcus would be placed in charge of a team whose sole job would be to “explore how to best leverage blockchain across Facebook, starting from scratch.”
The development comes just days after the company confirmed that it is carrying out a major organizational reshuffle and appointed former PayPal CEO, David Marcus, as the head of its dedicated blockchain unit. According to reports, the blockchain team will be a part of Facebook’s ‘New Platforms and Infrastructure’ division that will also deal with other emerging technologies, such as AI, AR and VR.
Facebook’s newfound fascination with blockchain is a change from only a year ago, when it reportedly had only one employee researching about the emerging technology and how it can be put to use by the social media giant. The company is believed to have started working on blockchain only last year, when a member of its corporate development team, Morgan Beller, began looking at how the technology can be put to use by the social platform.
Speaking of ICOs, Heath says that Facebook would not probably hold an ICO because firstly, the company has already a good looking balance sheet and secondly, it won’t sell crypto coins with its already-battered reputation. Instead, the company might just airdrop them or reward them to the users.
