Facebook’s Crypto Initiative “Project Libra” Is Making Moves
Facebook is actively seeking collaborators and funding for its cryptocurrency venture, now known to be “Project Libra,” which is more commonly referred to as FacebookCoin. This according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), and Gizmodo, May 02, 2019.
Project Libra
According to sources close to the matter at WSJ, Facebook has been seeking “dozens of financial firms and online merchants” to aid in the launch of the much talked about project, which it aims to tie into its already staggeringly popular social media platform.
Simply put, Project Libra is a mission akin to that of Amazon’s credit card or Apple’s latest announcement to do the same. It’s a bid to connect their already highly-established services and products with their customer’s finances, which already poses many challenges considering that Facebook is looking to achieve the same end with a cryptocurrency.
Many websites now offer the simplistic option to sign-up or sign-in to their platforms using a Facebook ID. With this, the scope of application for the rumored FacebookCoin is gigantic, especially considering that the platform already boasts 1.56 billion daily logins internationally, and 2.38 billion monthly active users.
As per WSJ, Facebook is seeking around $1 billion in funding and has reportedly spoken with Visa, Mastercard and First Data Corp., indicative of Facebook’s intentions to create an easy to access and fluid financial tool. Most interestingly, according to WSJ, this funding would provide the backing for a cryptocurrency, suggesting a stablecoin is in the making.
Against the Decentralized Grain
That said, a cryptocurrency may not be the only blockchain offering on the menu, as a Facebook spokesperson told Gizmodo:
“Like many other companies Facebook is exploring ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology.”
Adding:
“This new small team is exploring many different applications. We don’t have anything further to share.”
Naturally, there are cynics who consider this to be the antithesis to the spirit of blockchain technology. Binance CFO, Wei Zhou, made notable remarks toward the end of April as he described Facebook as not being a “community-driven organization,” and referred to the centralized and hierarchal nature of the social media platform.
Zhou suspects it to be a “closed Facebook ecosystem,” which will fly in the face of the decentralized ethos that is the beloved backbone of the blockchain and cryptocurrency movement if it can be called that.
This latest news builds upon previous reports which speculated that FacebookCoin is due within the first half of 2019, a deadline which is soon to pass.
