Facebook seeks $1B in venture capital for crypto project: Report

Social media giant Facebook is reportedly seeking support from venture capital firms for its cryptocurrency project, New York Times (NYT) tech reporter Nathaniel Popper recently said in a series of tweets.

Earlier this year, reports suggested that Facebook was working on “Facebook coin” and was in talks with several cryptocurrency exchanges about selling the coin to consumers. Anonymous sources told NYT that Facebook was considering pegging the value of the coin to a basket of different foreign currencies – similar to the concept of stablecoin.

In a tweet, Popper said:

“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.”

He further said that a source told him that Facebook is considering “using the money as collateral for its cryptocurrency.”

One person I spoke with said that Facebook is talking about using the money as collateral for its cryptocurrency. Facebook has been designing the coin to keep a stable value, pegged to a basket of foreign currencies held in bank accounts.
— Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) April 8, 2019

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.
— Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) April 8, 2019

The “secretive” crypto project is expected to allow Whatsapp users to send the coin to friends and family instantly.

Facebook delved into the blockchain space last May with the launch of its blockchain division. In February, it acquired the team behind blockchain startup Chainspace.

The company has also set up a blockchain team in Tel Aviv, Israel and was looking to fill various positions, including a product manager and blockchain researcher.