Todd Bishop
The social media Facebook blockchain team is reportedly developing a “stablecoin” cryptocurrency that is directly linked to the US dollar or a basket of currencies to minimize volatility and will be launched as early as the next quarter.
Ambitious CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at the Facebook Developers Conference that it would soon promote WhatsApp payments to other countries and show optimistic about money transfers and private commerce. According to Bloomberg, the cryptocurrency will be tested first in India, and it has begun testing regular payments in India through a product called WhatsApp Pay. The ultimate goal is for users to use this currency transfer remittance on WhatsApp.
The Facebook blockchain team started in May last year and currently has about 50 employees, about one-fifth of whom have worked at PayPal and are managed by former PayPal president David Marcus. The blockchain team and its projects are still at a high level of confidentiality.
