Facebook quietly creating cryptocurrency-based payment processing service

• Facebook has been engaged in the payment system development for over a year.
• The company;s service may become the largest mainstream application of digital assets.

One of the world’s largest social network put in a great deal of effort to create a proprietary cryptocurrency-based payments system. Considering that the company is head-hunting for blockchain talents and recruit dozens of online merchants and financial firms with the relevant expertise, the chances for success are really high, the Wall Street Journal reports.

If the expectations are satisfied, the Facebook’s platform may become the largest mainstream application for cryptocurrency and a strong boost to use cases.   

The Facebook’s project with a code-name Project Libra, has been under development for over a year. It will allow the platform users to send each other digital coins and buy stuff both on Facebook and outside the platform, the WSJ reports citing the knowledgeable sources. Also, the company may reward users for their activity on the platform. 

Facebook considers partnerships with traditional financial firms and payment processors like Visa and Mastercard and seeks to raise investments of about $1 billion. This money will be used a collateral for the coin and protect it from sharp price fluctuations.

The social-media giant is plagued by data privacy issues, which makes it harder for the platform to introduce major new things. However, with more than 1.5 billion daily users, the company is well-positioned to get the chunk of payment processing business from traditional card networks.