Oliver Haslam on May 12, 2018, 6:37 am

Facebook To Launch Its Own Cryptocurrency As An Alternative Payment Method

Facebook may be the world’s biggest social network but it’s obviously not content with that. Moves into other markets are increasingly commonplace for the company and with steps into virtual reality and instant messaging already underway, it should perhaps come as no surprise that cryptocurrency is the next step.

According to a new report by Cheddar‘s Alex Heath, Facebook’s planning to launch its very own cryptocurrency.

Perhaps understandably, there isn’t too much information floating around about the move just yet, but the assumption is that Facebook is looking at cryptocurrency as a payment method for use across the Facebook platform. Given the sheer number of people involved and the existing user base covering a thriving marketplace within Facebook, that would be quite the undertaking.

The report claims that the move towards cryptocurrency is being led by David Marcus, the same man who was recently reported as being the head of a new division within Facebook that will focus on, you guessed it, blockchain technology. Marcus’ brief is to “explore how to best leverage Blockchain across Facebook, starting from scratch.” Facebook is keeping its cards close to its chest right now, although it did release a short statement to The Verge in which it covered the bases without actually saying anything new.

Like many other companies Facebook is exploring ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology. This new small team will be exploring many different applications. We don’t have anything further to share.

While the buzz surrounding cryptocurrency has quietened slightly since the huge Bitcoin craze that swept over the planet a couple of months ago, there is still plenty for companies like Facebook to work on. We’d be surprised if others were not following suit.

(Sources: Cheddar, The Verge)