Facebook has been in contact with US and British financial
regulators with a view to launching its own cryptocurrency next
year, the BBC reported on Friday.
“GlobalCoin” would work with a new digital payments system in
about a dozen countries, starting in the first quarter of 2020, the
broadcaster said on its website.
Previous reports have said Facebook is taking a serious look at
blockchain technology under its “Project Libra”, in part to tackle
doubts about privacy among its many users following a series of
scandals.
But the targeted date appears new. The BBC said Facebook had
already spoken to Bank of England governor Mark Carney and to
officials at the US Treasury and was expected to flesh out its
plans this northern hemisphere summer.
Facebook’s currency would be “stable coin”, a digital unit
pegged to the dollar in contrast to more anarchic means of virtual
payment such as bitcoin, according to earlier reporting by
Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal among others.
With more than two billion users across its platforms, which
include WhatsApp and Instagram, Facebook could have the clout to
take cryptocurrency mainstream and emulate the likes of WeChat in
China, where the US site is banned.
WeChat allows its users to chat, shop and play games without
leaving its platform, generating more revenue by offering a
one-stop portal.
Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg has said that adding e-commerce
is the logical evolution of the company’s advertising-based
business model.
But such a step is likely to invite more intense regulatory
scrutiny at a time when Facebook is already under a cloud for
abuses of privacy and the spread of fake news.
Facebook said it had disabled 2.19 billion fake accounts in the
first quarter of this year, nearly double the number of the three
months prior.
But Zuckerberg on Thursday rejected the idea of breaking up the
social media giant, saying that would hamper the fight against
deceit and harmful online content.
(AFP)