Facebook is considering launching its own cryptocurrency and allowing its 2bn-plus users to make seamless electronic payments.
The $530bn (£390bn) social media giant has quietly spent the past year exploring possible uses of blockchain technology, the decentralised ledger system that underpins bitcoin, ethereum, ripple and the thousands of other digital currencies that have been spawned recently.
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has now assigned one of his most senior lieutenants to oversee the project — David Marcus, previously head of the firm’s Messenger app. Marcus’s brief is to lead a team of developers who can ascertain how “to best leverage blockchain across Facebook, starting from scratch”.
The company declined to elaborate on its plans, but it is understood that Zuckerberg is seriously considering launching a Facebook