Facebook could test upcoming digital currency in India

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
May 9, 2019

Facebook plans to launch its upcoming digital currency for testing in India before launching it in other countries as the social media business forays into payment services, according to reports. 

Sources told Bloomberg that Facebook Inc’s blockchain team in the US is working on a cryptocurrency called a “stablecoin” that is intended to have a stable value. The business aims to use this innovation to launch payments services that Bloomberg has reported could be officially announced in the coming quarter.

Facebook aims to test the services and currency in India first as the Indian digital payments market still has untapped growth potential and there is room to expand, the sources said. Facebook is currently testing payments in India through its product WhatsApp Pay.

Facebook’s blockchain unit was launched in May 2018 and has 50 employees, a significant number of which are former digital payments business Paypal employees. The unit is headed by the former Paypal president David Marcus.

The business recently held a meeting on Capital Hill, the US, on May 7 to discuss legislation to protect Facebook users’ privacy. Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg met US lawmakers to work on Facebook’s privacy policies, a pertinent issue for the business.