Facebook working on Whatsapp cryptocurrency
Facebook has seen many instances of data breaches, internal conflicts and criticism in the past year, after a long silence Facebook is now reportedly working on its own cryptocurrency to facilitate WhatsApp payments.
WhatsApp cryptocurrency would be backed by US dollar in order to ensure currency stability according to the report published by Bloomberg. According to some experts aware of the matters, Facebook will initially target emerging markets like India where the digital money transfer is increasing with an unprecedented rate allowing the company to tap the potential market.
Facebook might take some time to launch the digital currency because the company is still working on the development and strategy to ensure the value and stability of the digital coin. The strategy will include the plan for custody assets or regular currencies for minimize the volatility in the currency.
Facebook has entered the financial services market long ago when the company hired former PayPal president David Marcus in 2014 to look after its blockchain projects.
The social media giant believes that it could leverage the potential of blockchain technology and make money out of it for the company. According to Facebook’s spokesperson, “Facebook is exploring many ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology similar to many other tech companies.”
Facebook’s focus on India is not meaningless, the country has over 200 million WhatsApp users and the country receives huge amounts cash inflows in form of remittances every year. According to the World Bank report, Indian expats roughly sent $69 billion back in the country during 2017.The idea of using digital currency for WhatsApp sound great especially for Indian market where the number of users is great and money transfer rate is icing on the cake. If Facebook is able to tap this market effectively it could be a win win situation for the company after so many problems the social media company went through in the past few years.
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