Facebook to join stablecoin bandwagon? Report suggests new dollar-pegged crypto in the works

Social media behemoth Facebook is reportedly working on a cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar to facilitate money transfers on messaging app Whatsapp.

Sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that initial focus will be on the remittances market in India. They said that Facebook is developing the stablecoin to minimize volatility.

India, which was the top remittance recipient with $69 billion flowing into the country last year, seems to be quite an obvious choice. Moreover, WhatsApp, which was acquired by Facebook in 2014, has over 200 million users in India.

The issuance of the stablecoin is unlikely to happen anytime in the near future as the company is currently working on the strategy, which, the sources said, includes “a plan for custody assets, or regular currencies that would be held to protect the value of the stablecoin.”

Anthony Pompliano, founder and partner at Morgan Creek Digital Assets, believes that Facebook’s stablecoin could quickly become the most used crypto-product. He said in a tweet:

“WhatsApp has over 200,000,000 users in India alone. The Indian government has been fighting crypto too so things are about to get very, very interesting...”

In an official statement, Facebook said:

“Like many other companies, Facebook is exploring ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology. This new small team is exploring many different applications. We don’t have anything further to share."

The report comes amid recent reports that suggest that Facebook has been quietly building up its blockchain team, which has grown to 40 employees and includes a number of former PayPal executives.