Facebook has been working on launching a cryptocurrency to be used on Whatsapp since 2018. It seems the project is finally coming to fruition as a report from BBC says the company could be launching the new cryptocurrency known as Globalcoin in Q1 of 2020.
As regulation is a major challenge in the launching process, Facebook has been consulting with experts about the legal implications. Among those consulted so far are officials of the U.S. Treasury and the Bank of England governor Mark Carney. The company also approached Coinbase and Gemini exchanges to consider the listing of the cryptocurrency for later trading.
The cryptocurrency which is to be launched in “a dozen countries” by Q1 2020 will be tried by the end of 2019. Talks have been held with top Chicago-based high-frequency trading firms, Jump and DRW for liquidity and market creation for the cryptocurrency.
Facebook has also reportedly met with major payment companies Western Union, Visa, and Mastercard as a potential source of funding which the company is planning to raise over a billion USD for. These are indeed major plans for the launch of a cryptocurrency.
A recent report by Binance Research shows that Facebook and other major non-financial bodies could determine the future of the cryptocurrency market in the near future. Facebook seems to be fulfilling this mission.
Facebook’s project is internally known as Project Libra, and the company reportedly registered a new firm known as “Libra Networks” based in Geneva to “provide financial and technology services and develop related hardware and software.”
The Facebook cryptocurrency was initially said to be Whatsapp-based. This is potentially going to bring in millions of users into the cryptocurrency space who have not ventured into the industry. If more non-financial companies do same, the crypto industry may be seeing a higher boost in no time that will help to bring mainstream adoption closer to actualization.
