Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum have pretty much taken the world by storm recently, at least as far as the press is concerned. While most cryptocurrencies have not yet been accepted into the mainstream, their very existence is a sign that you can have money that is not controlled by a specific source or a central authority, money that can be used legitimately and in a manner that ensures that all involved parties will exit the transaction feeling satisfied without it being traced to governmental-authorities that people have no control over and are subject to without question.
Facebook seems to be getting in on the crypto bandwagon. The social media giant is closing out a scandalous and thoroughly humiliating year by announcing plans for a way forward, and that involves them developing their very own cryptocurrency which will be designed for use on WhatsApp. Facebook hired a blockchain specialist about four years ago, none other than PayPal’s very own David Marcus, so it’s fair to say that a digital currency project has been a long time coming. It’s understandable that the crypto project is going to focus on WhatsApp, since the messaging platform has been a constant place where transactions occur.
According to Bloomberg, this cryptocurrency will initially focus on India where a lot of transactions occur through WhatsApp. Developing markets regularly use WhatsApp for this purpose, so it seems like India will be a testing ground for the currency and if it’s successful Facebook is probably going to take it to the next level by introducing it into a variety of other developing markets. Already developed markets such as America itself are also going to benefit greatly from this currency, and might even adopt it more readily than developing markets that are not already familiar with this sort of digital money.
Photo: Zdravkovic
Facebook seems to be getting in on the crypto bandwagon. The social media giant is closing out a scandalous and thoroughly humiliating year by announcing plans for a way forward, and that involves them developing their very own cryptocurrency which will be designed for use on WhatsApp. Facebook hired a blockchain specialist about four years ago, none other than PayPal’s very own David Marcus, so it’s fair to say that a digital currency project has been a long time coming. It’s understandable that the crypto project is going to focus on WhatsApp, since the messaging platform has been a constant place where transactions occur.
According to Bloomberg, this cryptocurrency will initially focus on India where a lot of transactions occur through WhatsApp. Developing markets regularly use WhatsApp for this purpose, so it seems like India will be a testing ground for the currency and if it’s successful Facebook is probably going to take it to the next level by introducing it into a variety of other developing markets. Already developed markets such as America itself are also going to benefit greatly from this currency, and might even adopt it more readily than developing markets that are not already familiar with this sort of digital money.
Photo: Zdravkovic
