Bitcoin Forum

Facebook Inc. is working on making a cryptocurrency that will let users transfer money on its WhatsApp messaging app, focusing first on the remittances market in India, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company is developing a stablecoin -- a type of digital currency pegged to the U.S. dollar -- to minimize volatility, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal plans. Facebook is far from releasing the coin, because it’s still working on the strategy, including a plan for custody assets, or regular currencies that would be held to protect the value of the stablecoin, the people said.

Facebook has long been expected to make a move in financial services, after hiring former PayPal president David Marcus to run its Messenger app in 2014. In May, Marcus became the head of the company’s blockchain initiatives, which haven’t been discussed publicly in detail. Facebook has been on a hiring spree, and now has about 40 people in its blockchain group, according to employee titles on LinkedIn.

"Like many other companies, Facebook is exploring ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology," a company spokesman said in a statement. "This new small team is exploring many different applications. We don’t have anything further to share."

WhatsApp, the company’s encrypted mobile-messaging app, is popular in India, with more than 200 million users. The country also leads the world in remittances -- people sent $69 billion home to India in 2017, the World Bank said this year.

The past year has seen a boom in crypto projects related to stablecoins. At one point, there were more than 120 ventures related to this theme, according to Stable.Report, a website that tracks stable tokens. The concept was created to create a digital coin that would be far easier to use on daily purchases because it would be more stable than currencies like Bitcoin.

The idea has proven tough to carry out in real life, with at least one high-profile project shuttered in recent weeks. A stablecoin known as Basis recently closed after eight months. The Hoboken, New Jersey-based company said there was no apparent way around being classified as a security as opposed to a currency, which could significantly reduce the number of potential buyers. The swift collapse came after Basis drew well-known backers like Andreessen Horowitz and Kevin Warsh, a former governor of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Perhaps the most high-profile stablecoin to date, Tether, has also been surrounded by controversy. While Tether’s creators say each of its tokens is backed by one U.S. dollar, the company’s refusal to be audited has raised questions about whether that’s the case.

Facebook, which has 2.5 billion global users, more than $40 billion in annual revenue and greater experience navigating regulatory issues, may have a better chance of making a stablecoin that sticks. It would be the first large technology company to launch such a project. The company’s relationship with India has been fraught, mainly because some instances of fake news spread through WhatsApp have led to violence there. Still, Facebook sees tremendous growth opportunity in the country. India has 480 million internet users, second only to China. That number is projected to grow to 737 million by 2022, according to Forrester Research Inc.

More news from anonymous sources, which may or may not pan out.   :)

Facebook may be using this announcement as a publicity stunt in an effort to artificially inflate the value of its stock which has dwindled in recent times. Mark Zuckenberg came under fire earlier this year for facebook sharing end user data against ethical guidelines. Facebook's declining value could be a result of trust issues. Its an open question as to whether people retain trust in facebook sufficient for them to rollout a stablecoin or blockchain based solution for payment processors.

That said could this be an indication of how far blockchain and crypto currencies have progressed being that large tech giants now view them as being a viable prospect and platform for future growth.

I for one will continue to refuse to use anything that Facebook gets their grimy, privacy-invading hands on. Sure, this might be another example of blockchain technology going more mainstream, but you can absolutely guarantee that if you use this, your addresses and transactions will be added to Facebook's ever growing profile of information on you, and then sold to highest bidder with absolutely no regard for your privacy, anonymity or security.

I do still use whatsapp but it's almost a necessity and I feel that there's more safety in that.

This idea about a fbcoin or a whatsappcoin is complete garbage and probably fake news.No need to comment such fake news.

This idea about a fbcoin or a whatsappcoin is complete garbage and probably fake news.No need to comment such fake news.

There are many other open source and end-to-end encrypted instant messengers you can use, but I appreciate the problem is getting all your friends/colleagues/whoever to use them too.

Signal (https://signal.org/) is the one I use. It is free, open source, and available for in android, iOS and desktop versions. It also supports voice, image, video and file sharing. There is also Wire (https://wire.com/en/download/) which pretty much does the same things.

It's incredible how egregious the privacy violations are with major social networking apps, but nobody seems to care. Most people I talk to have no interest in using Signal. Messenger still seems really popular.

I for one will continue to refuse to use anything that Facebook gets their grimy, privacy-invading hands on. <snip>

And I agree that FB will find a way to exploit the users of its stablecoin if it ever gets off the ground.

Hydrogen, am I missing the source of that quote or what?  Where did it come from?

Anyway, I just learned more about stablecoins than I knew before, so this was an interesting article.  Since I'm not that familiar with them (but I understand the concept), I'm wondering why sending a Facebook coin would be more convenient than just using something like PayPal or a similar service.  I think even Indians working overseas can send funds back to India via PP friends & family for no charge.  The article doesn't exactly say that there's a problem that crypto in general is needed to solve, much less that an unproven, untested, not-yet-developed stablecoin is going to solve.  Are Indians finding it difficult to send money back home? 

I use Signal but unfortunately the only people I know who use it are people in the cannabis industry (or otherwise involved in black or grey market activity). It's incredible how egregious the privacy violations are with major social networking apps, but nobody seems to care. Most people I talk to have no interest in using Signal. Messenger still seems really popular.

I doubt this is true. Facebook wouldn’t do such a thing, they don’t need cryptocurrency cause they wouldn’t consider it safe for their platforms users.

People can already send and receive money with Facebook, there is a feature to send and receive money in the Messenger app. If they want they will do the same for WhatsApp, but it won’t be anything to do with cryptocurrencies, these medias are fond of carrying fake news.

It is very likely, and it will be the end of the crypto as we know it: it will create Facebookcoin, Amazoncoin, Googlecoin, and will be advertised as "real" and "safe" crypto coins, and people will not understand that they are not decentralized. What a pity...

These dollar tokens would - be centralised, tied to the dollar, reversible, blockable, seizable, and probably require a bank to actually spend outside their services.

I can't believe anyone registered here believes projects like this are in any way comparable. Just like centralbankcoin, they'll make the case for real crypto even more compelling.

I doubt this is true. Facebook wouldn’t do such a thing, they don’t need cryptocurrency cause they wouldn’t consider it safe for their platforms users.

People can already send and receive money with Facebook, there is a feature to send and receive money in the Messenger app. If they want they will do the same for WhatsApp, but it won’t be anything to do with cryptocurrencies, these medias are fond of carrying fake news.

there will be more and more enthusiasts from the Crypto community to promote Facebook as we all promote cryptocurrency

I can't believe anyone registered here believes projects like this are in any way comparable. Just like centralbankcoin, they'll make the case for real crypto even more compelling.

This kind of application doesn't even require a blockchain.

We can not say that it is a fake news or it is true , that facebook is developing a cryptocurrency for WhatsApp Transfer, if this news is true then it will be a great news , because the crypto currency is expanding their crypto works through this facebook giant.

This kind of application doesn't even require a blockchain.

Facebook's "currency" could be stored in a centralized database, since FB itself is centralized.

I don't believe if there is no source at all, waiting to announce the former CEO of the Facebook company. If Mark's have officially announced on that then, there is no reason that I don't believe at all. For now, let's wait and observe our Facebook account having a piece of news regarding crypto but totally I still have doubt that it will never happen.

The news was ramper online and it will be good if facebook does do their own crypto currency but unfortunately the news seems to be false because there's no genuine link to interview where the facebook CEO does make the statement. Therefore, I believe the news was just one of the news spread in other to make more investors step in.

I don't believe if there is no source at all, waiting to announce the former CEO of the Facebook company. If Mark's have officially announced on that then, there is no reason that I don't believe at all. For now, let's wait and observe our Facebook account having a piece of news regarding crypto but totally I still have doubt that it will never happen.

They made such currency before with their apps before or games but it didn't clicked and those type of credits didn't last long. There were news about the hiring of blockchain professionals that facebook did.

With the related ban of ICO ads before on the platform, I think its part of the plan but we don't know what's the really the plan of Mark Zuckerberg and his company alone. It can also be a hype naming like what others said, so investors would buy themselves in.

Facebook had ban crypto and ICOs ads so it really is a surprised for them planning in creating a crypto of their own however, I think it would work more if they will also used bitcoin. Creating another crypto exclusively for them is smart but using bitcoin could be more practical.

Facebook founders wants the best thing for their company and their users so it is understandable if they would continue developing. With cryptos booming year by year, considering to integrate it would be an advantage for them in the future.

Facebook had ban crypto and ICOs ads so it really is a surprised for them planning in creating a crypto of their own however, I think it would work more if they will also used bitcoin. Creating another crypto exclusively for them is smart but using bitcoin could be more practical.

People have lost confidence in Facebook because of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.  They have trust issues with users. Creating a cryptocurrency does not sound good from Facebook. If they are interested in cryptocurrency why ban crypto ads on facebook

More news from anonymous sources, which may or may not pan out.   Smiley

Facebook may be using this announcement as a publicity stunt in an effort to artificially inflate the value of its stock which has dwindled in recent times. Mark Zuckenberg came under fire earlier this year for facebook sharing end user data against ethical guidelines. Facebook's declining value could be a result of trust issues. Its an open question as to whether people retain trust in facebook sufficient for them to rollout a stablecoin or blockchain based solution for payment processors.

That said could this be an indication of how far blockchain and crypto currencies have progressed being that large tech giants now view them as being a viable prospect and platform for future growth.

These dollar tokens would - be centralised, tied to the dollar, reversible, blockable, seizable, and probably require a bank to actually spend outside their services.

Facebook IS losing a lot of attention however they are lucky that they grabbed whatsapp and instagram at the right prices. As far as I remember they IPO'd facebook at around 100 billion dollars in value, think about it, a social media platform that worth 100 billion dollars makes no sense at all, it is like buying a 100 billion dollar car, it will eventually lose value so why spend so much money on it ?

They bought whatsapp which basically doesn't lose value as long as people keep talking online with each other so I assume whatsapp will be relevant for long long years until a rival could dethrone them. Instagram is still great on social media level but like I said about facebook, that will slowly fadeaway and a new one will come eventually.

Facebooks crypto move would only be interesting so we could see if they could revival facebook by using crypto as a system to attract young people again.

In my opinion. perhaps this policy is to boost the value of Facebook shares which continue to decline in the trading market due to data leaks that have occurred. so that Facebook starts a new innovation in the crypto world so that the value of shares will increase again and gain the value of trust from the public. in my opinion, this is a good innovation so that it will further develop the crypto world.

On the other hand if facebook is really looking into our chats at whatsapp and our pictures at instagram and builds algorithms to find out stuff about us and sell that to anyone other than marketing agencies that is a big big risk for them.

Yeah you can like a facebook page about how I met your mother and suddenly there is an amazon how I met your mother dvd set showing as an advertisement, that is fine, that is expected.

That is why Zuck has been summoned to court and that is why he will be either getting jailed for a long time if he did that

I mean, I don't use Facebook and I have pretty strict ad-blocking and anti-tracking set-up, but is this really "fine" and "expected"? Do people these days just accept that it is normal for companies to track your movements and share your data like this? I see this as a massive invasion of privacy.

Have you added this list (https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts) (scroll down a bit) to your hosts file yet? I'm not sure how effective it is against tracking, but blocking advertising servers is a good start.