Facebook, the social media supergiant, is all ready to launch its very own cryptocurrency nicknamed ‘GlobalCoin’ next year, according to a BBC report.
On Friday, the British Broadcasting Corporation said that Facebook is looking to launch its payments system based on cryptocurrency in around “a dozen countries” by the beginning of 2020 and is planning on starting trials in its use before the year is out.
Officials at the Bank of England and the U.S. Treasury have also been approached for advice, with Mark Carney, the BoE’s governor, offering guidance on the initiative’s regulatory issues for its so-called “Project Libra.”
The crypto plan’s finer details will most likely be revealed over the next few months, so said the report.
The Financial Times says that Facebook has been talking to Gemini exchange and the Coinbase exchange too looking to get regulated, third-party platforms ready for its coin’s users to exchange and store the asset. It quotes “two people familiar with the matter” as being their source of information.
It is worth noting that Gemini was founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, some old legal opponents of Mark Zuckerberg. Their highly-regulated exchange is something that will no doubt appeal to the social network as regulation is a significant hurdle with new cryptocurrencies, so points out the FT.
The sources said that the first had discussed the liquidity and market creation with DRW and Jump, which are both high-frequency, Chicago-based trading firms.
These news updates have appeared not long after reports of Facebook being in talks with other payment firms such as Visa, Mastercard, and Western Union, to support and the fund is fiat-based cryptocurrency.
The project aims to develop a cryptocurrency to help the billions of Facebook users transfer money with others and make purchases online.
The 2nd May saw Facebook register a new sideline “Libra Networks” over in Geneva that will “provide financial and technology services and develop related hardware and software.”
In April, Facebook was reported to be looking to rise to $1 billion to fund the stablecoin crypto project.
