Social media giant Facebook is planning to release its own cryptocurrency, the “GlobalCoin,” in the first quarter of 2020. The BBC reports this on 24 May.
The new cryptocurrency, formerly internally called “Project Libra”, now appears to be officially called GlobalCoin internally. A test phase should start by the end of this year.
According to the news, Facebook is in conversation with parties such as Western Union to find out how the new cryptocurrency can be used to send Facebook users money quickly and cheaply to each other, even if they do not have a bank account. More details about the project would be announced this summer.
It is also claimed that Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, has already been in talks with the US Treasury and Mark Carney, president of the Bank of England, to discuss the risks associated with launching a cryptocurrency.
Nevertheless, there are major concerns in the market about entering Facebook into the cryptocurrency market. The reputation of Facebook, when it comes to privacy and protection of personal data, suffered considerable damage after the debacle surrounding Cambridge Analytica.
Every month this month the US Senate and Banking Commission sent a public letter to Zuckerberg with questions about the cryptocurrency, how it works and how Facebook intends to protect its customers and their data.
The GlobalCoin has a lot of potential when it comes to mass adoption. Facebook has 2.4 billion monthly users compared to the 30 million people who use cryptocurrency. Spencer Bogart, partner of Blockchain Capital, said two weeks ago that the project could triple the number of cryptocurrency users.
A recent study by LendEDU showed that Americans are more interested in the cryptocurrency of Facebook than in bitcoin (BTC).
This month, Facebook has changed its policy on cryptocurrency advertisements on its platform. Previously there was a complete ban on crypto-related advertisements. It was also announced this month that Facebook has acquired the “Libra” trademark and is looking for $ 1 billion in investment for the project.
In February, Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview that he is very interested in blockchain technology and is considering applying it to Facebook’s login procedure.
