Facebook Is Working On A Stablecoin For Transferring Money On WhatsApp

Dhir Acharya - Dec 22, 2018

Facebook is currently working on its own form of stablecoins to allow WhatsApp users to transfer money on this platform.

Bloomberg has revealed that Facebook is developing a cryptocurrency allowing WhatsApp users to transfer money on this messaging app.

The development of a form of cryptocurrency has been going in at Facebook for a while now, the company even appointed David Marcus to be responsible for exploring blockchain. Now, according to Bloomberg, the company is working to reduce the volatility seen in other forms of cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.

However, this may take another while before Facebook can actually release its own cryptocurrency since the company is still at the development phase and is still working on its strategy. According to sources that are familiar with this plan, the social giant is making plans for custody assets as well as regular currencies to secure the value of its coin.

Marcus, who previously was the leader in running WhatsApp, has now been elevated to be the head of blockchain initiatives at Facebook. The giant tech firm is also building a team specialized in the blockchain, which has already counted around 40 people.

A spokesman told Bloomberg that Facebook is just like other companies who expand its business to cryptocurrencies. The new blockchain team at the company is exploring various applications. Apart from that, there’s not much to be revealed.

Right now, there are about 1.5 billion users on WhatsApp, and currently widely used in India. The country has approximately 250 million people using this messaging app. And Facebook wants its coming stablecoin to appear on this platform as a mean of exchanging money. The social network is also developing payment solutions based on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for its users. Another factor considered as the motivation for Facebook is India’s leading position in remittances. In 2017 only, there was $69 billion transferred in India, the World Bank stated.

There have been more projects on stablecoins during the past year, which aim at bringing digital coins to daily life. However, it’s not easy to implement in reality, considering the controversial current stablecoins like Tether and Basis.