Global social media heavyweight Facebook is reportedly seeking as much as $1 billion USD in venture capital backing for its forthcoming cryptocurrency.
That’s per New York Times technology reporter Nathaniel Popper, who revealed on April 8th that sources familiar with the matter confirmed the Silicon Valley power was seeking “big sums” from venture capital firms.
Popper and his fellow correspondent Mike Isaac first reported back on March 1st that Facebook was already well along in building out its own stablecoin.
More specifically, the duo noted the project was being designed as a “basketcoin” — a stablecoin to be pegged to several prominent currencies at once instead of just one. Few specifics are known for now, but those currencies are likely to be forex stalwarts like the U.S. dollar, the Japanese yen, the euro, and so forth.
Update on Facebook's cryptocurrency: Sources tell me that Facebook is now looking to get VC firms to invest in the Facebook cryptocurrency project we reported on earlier this year. I hear they are targeting big sums — as much as $1b.
— Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) April 8, 2019
At the time, Popper and Isaac revealed that Facebook had “held conversations with cryptocurrency exchanges about selling the Facebook coin to consumers” and that the crypto could be released before Q3 2019.
The new information provided by Popper’s sources indicates the company’s crypto plans are continuing full steam ahead. The NYT correspondent said the planned decentralization of the project was a possible selling point:
“Given that one of the big allures of blockchain projects is the decentralization, getting outside investors could help Facebook present the project as more decentralized and less controlled by Facebook.”
He went on to add that Facebook was considering using the raised VC funds as “collateral […] held in bank accounts” to underpin its basketcoin. Popper also highlighted the curious factor that Facebook — one of the richest companies in the world –was raising funds at all:
It's interesting to think of one of the richest companies on earth raising money. When was the last time they did outside fundraising?
— Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) April 8, 2019
It’s clear then that Facebook’s crypto plans are continuing to ramp up.
Facebook’s Blockchain Horizon Widening
Speaking of ramping up, the social media giant posted a job position on its career page last month for a Lead Commercial Counsel, Blockchain. That reality alone suggests Facebook’s blockchain venture plans are accelerating.
Per the posting, the eventual hire would be “responsible for drafting and negotiating a wide variety of contracts related [Facebook’s] blockchain initiatives, including partnerships needed to launch new products and expand such products internationally.”
Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has also been talking about blockchain more in regard to his company’s future plans, so these early moves may be just that — only the beginning of bigger, more sprawling plans to come.
Digital Money Catches the Attention of Silicon Valley Big Wigs
Forget about Wall Street for a second, as 2019 has seen the profile of the cryptoverse tangibly rise in Silicon Valley. For example, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made headlines earlier this year for saying paper money was going to eventually go extinct and that cryptocurrency was a better genre of money.
“Crypto is a far better way to transfer value than pieces of paper, that’s for sure,” Musk said.
It’s a notable position for the high-profile CEO to take in public. Yet it pales in comparison to the recent actions of Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey, who’s recently gone on something of a Bitcoin adoption spree.
Dorsey, who now runs his own Bitcoin and Lightning Network nodes, made waves in March in announcing the creation of Square Crypto, a new open-source arm of the popular Square payments company that would be focused around cryptocurrency-centric innovations
At the time, Dorsey declared the new venture was looking to hire a handful of cryptoeconomy engineers as well as one designer.
“All resulting work will be open and free,” Dorsey said.
With that said, Zuckerberg, Dorsey, and Musk are quite the believers to have in one camp. A key thread to watch will be how these companies continue to approach the blockchain space in the years ahead.
