Facebook does not want to stop trying to enter new markets and technological areas, with the aim of being much more than a mere social network, as it was when it started. It is working on various initiatives, one of which to launch early next year is irs own cryptocurrency named “GlobalCoins”.
Facebook, which brings together over 2 billion profiles worldwide, wants its digital currency payment system “GlobalCoins” to serve users who also do not have a bank account. The company, which also owns WhatsApp and Instagram, seeks to break financial barriers, compete with banks and reduce consumer costs by implementing theor cryptocurrency to all their owned social media platforms.
Cryptocurrency can be used to pay for almost all things in real life, such as a hotel room, food or even a house. They are stored in online wallets and can be sent anonymously among users and this is what Facebook would want to do with their Globalcoins.
For now it is unknown how the company will use this cryptocurrency in their products. But, for example, it could be used to transfer funds through its WhatsApp instant messaging service . Or also through Facebook Messenger, among other uses. Apparently, its value will be linked to the US dollar, so it will be created as a currency of the stablecoin type. In this way fluctuations can be minimal as one of the drawbacks of cryptocurrencies is its vulnerability to value fluctuations.
This is not the first time that Facebook has tried to take advantage of the digital currency wave. A decade ago, the company created Facebook Credits, a virtual currency that allowed users to purchase items from apps on the social network. But the company ended the project two years after it sank.
In the new venture, the company will also have to navigate a myriad of regulations in the countries where it wants to enter. Talks are reportedly on its way as Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and chief executive of Facebook, last month met the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, to discuss the plans. Zuckerberg is also reportedly meeting other central banks and regulators.
Although financial and social media analysts alike says a launch in 2020 in quite ambitious and maybe too early for Facebook, the social media giant is hopeful they can launch more details about their cryptocurrency "GlobalCoins" this summer with target testing to start before 2019 ends and will initially begin only in a dozen countries, then it will rollout in quarter one of 2020.
However, doubts about Facebook's cyrptocurrency are emerging. For starters, Facebook has been criticized for how it manages and preserves users' personal information. There had been security issues in the past and Facebook should work on protecting their "GlobalCoins" user information better.
This is yet to be seen and may hold the key to Facebook's GlobalCoins.
