The leading social network, Facebook is sure digging into deep waters, as a new report ties it to developing a cryptocurrency to allow users on its messaging service, WhatsApp to transfer money.
According to Bloomberg, Facebook is developing stablecoin - a digital currency that will be pegged to the U.S. dollar - to minimize volatility, but the company is still far from releasing the coin, as the strategy, including a plan for custody assets, or currencies that would be held to protect the value, are still in the works.
The cryptocurrency when launched will let users transfer money on the WhatsApp messaging app, and will be initially targeted at the remittances market in India, according to those familiar with the report.
And the kick off with India, is perhaps because it's messaging service, WhatsApp is hugely popular in India, with over 200 million users, also the country leads in world remittances, with $69 billion sent home to India in 2017, according to the World Bank.
While facebook had earlier chirped at looking into applications for blockchain - the encryption technology behind cryptocurrencies - but didn't offer any specifics about future works in that direction.
The company hopes to leverage on the power of blockchain technology to create a digital coin that would be far more easier to use for daily purchases as it will be stable than other currencies such as Bitcoin.
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