Facebook Now Building a Cryptocurrency-based Payments System called “Project Libra”

Facebook is focused on its cryptocurrency solutions as after the reports of FB launching its very own coin now the social media giant is in talks with dozens of e-commerce and financial firms to support cryptocurrency payment services called Project Libra that it is currently working on.

Facebook  Inc. is reported to be recruiting dozens of financial services and online merchants to help it launch a crypto-based payments system on the back of its social network. This super secretive cryptocurrency project is named “Project Libra.”

The effort is to further integrate itself in the lives of the users by developing a coin that will be used on Facebook and across the internet as users use their Facebook login information for other websites and services.

Moreover, the company is looking at ways to link this to ads. “Payments and commerce are Facebook’s only way out from its freemium, advertisement business model,” said Henry Liu, a former Facebook employee and managing partner of YGC, an enterprise blockchain investment firm.

The effort could upend the traditional plumbing of e-commerce by taking cryptocurrencies mainstream.

Under Pressure to Address Privacy Shortcomings

Facebook is already undergoing a major shift to focus on privacy as CEO Mark Zuckerberg had talked at length about how private commerce will be Facebook’s future. He had said that if e-commerce takes off on its various apps that could drive the brands to spend more on advertisers. Moreover, the company can also create new revenue streams if more users adopt its payment features.

One of the ideas could be to click ads to buy a product and pay with Facebook tokens. A similar feature was rolled out on Instagram, which it owns, in March.

The company has reportedly met with Mastercard, Visa, and other payments firms regarding the project and is hoping to secure an investment of about $1 billion. The fund is intended to support the value of the coin and protect against crypto volatility.

In December, it has been revealed Facebook is developing a cryptocurrency for its subsidiary Whatsapp and then in February there have been reports of Facebook meeting with crypto exchanges regarding the coin.

Just last year in May, Facebook had created a blockchain division and several company executives have been shifted to the project. David Marcus, ho has been leading the Messenger team prior the shift has said at that time, “setting up a small group to explore how to best leverage Blockchain across Facebook, starting from scratch.”

After banning crypto related ads in January last year, Facebook has jumped into the cryptocurrency bandwagon. By taking the crypto route, Facebook is reviving itself and making users stick to the platform. Now, with the crypto payment platform, it could be targeting WeChat Pay or even PayPal and can further gain leverage with ads to get one step up against Google.