Facebook is recently found to be developing cryptocurrency for WhatsApp users, and this cryptocurrency will be made to allow fund transfers through the app.
The first country that the company plans to focus on will be India, as the country has a higher remittance market and also has a huge population of 480 million Internet users and more than 200 million WhatsApp users. According to the World Bank, India also leads in remittance market, with people sending $69 billion home to India last year.
Facebook is now trying to develop a stablecoin which is a type of digital currency that is backed by the US dollar so that the currency will be less volatile. Of course, there are many other companies who have tried to create stablecoin, but not many have succeeded or lasted. Facebook might be one of those that would last though, as the company has 2.5 billion global users, and the company has been running for a decade and still leads the social media network.
However, the cryptocurrency is on its early stages, as the company is still working on its strategy, so the coin will not be released in the near future yet. The concept of the digital coin is to offer easier daily purchase options that are more stable than currencies, but there will be many aspects to be considered to ensure that the value of the digital coin is actually protected.
The idea of cryptocurrency already sound risky, and with Facebook being the company that is creating it, people might not be convinced to use the cryptocurrency considering the wavering trust they have in the company with its recent problems regarding users’ personal data.