According to brand new reports, Facebook is lawyering up for its future unveiling of a proprietary crypto coin.
Facebook’s plans are currently vague.
“We know little about Facebook’s plans,” writes Alistair Milne today in the Independent. “So far there is just one company statement about a new group set up to look into cryptocurrencies, reported by Bloomberg: ‘Like many other companies, Facebook is exploring ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology. This new small team is exploring many different applications. We don’t have anything further to share.’”
However reporting today from Cointelegraph shows that Facebook is looking for a legal professional with a skill set in blockchain and payment technologies.
“Facebook is seeking to hire a senior lawyer with experience in both blockchain and payments, a job description uploaded to its website this week confirms,” writes William Suberg today. “(Facebook,), which has hinted about plans involving blockchain, cryptocurrency and payments across its social media ecosystem, now wants a Lead Commercial Counsel to guide the rollout of new offerings.”
Acquisitions, statements and other indications show that Facebook may be looking to extend its social media empire by waiting into the crypto currency market – but some, like Milne, counsel a healthy dose of skepticism.
“Could this ‘Facecoin’ be the long-awaited breakthrough by a global technology giant into the lucrative market for retail financial services?” Milne writes. “Or will it be yet another exaggerated “crypto” project, buying into the continuing excitement about decentralised peer-to-peer exchange but, in the end, not delivering very much? … Time will tell, but my two decades of research into the economics of payments makes me sceptical.”
Still, if Facebook is not going to go all in on crypto, it’s putting out some interesting feelers.
“In a blog post titled A Privacy-Focused Vision for Social Networking, Mark Zuckerberg announced his intention to move the Internet toward private, secure, encrypted conversations,” writes Sir John Hargrave at the Bitcoin Market Journal, in a piece that estimates a launch of Q2 2019. “If those words sound familiar, it’s because bitcoin was also envisioned as a private, secure, encrypted money.”
Hargrave goes on to show the benefits of cryptocurrency against cards and cash, and makes a compelling argument toward expecting a “Facebit.”
“A Facebook coin would be a massive improvement over credit cards by simply attaching to your bank account, transferring your fiat currency into ‘Facebit,’ then making the payment,” writes Hargrave, “which the recipient could immediately transfer back into dollars, or keep denominated in ‘Facebit.’”
So are we close to “Facecoin” or “Facebit” or whatever this secret thing is going to be called? Watch this space.
