Big companies like Visa and PayPal are reportedly willing to pay millions for the privilege of running a node on the Facebook cryptocurrency network.
Facebook has roped in more than a dozen companies including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Uber to back its new cryptocurrency, named Libra, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The report said the cryptocurrency will debut with support from Mastercard, Visa, PayPay, and Uber Technologies Inc. along with support for about a dozen other companies. The support doesn’t simply involve on-paper agreements alone, with each company said to have invested at least $10 million USD into the project as part of the $1 billion Facebook was reported to be raising in May.
While investments from companies like Uber suggest that the cryptocurrency could be used to pay for rides, for example, but some of the partners are still unaware of exactly how it will work.
“It is still not entirely clear, even to some members of the consortium, how the coin will work or what their roles will be,” the Journal noted. “Regulatory hurdles in the U.S. and elsewhere are high.” The report went on to say that some participants are also concerned about the potential that the cryptocurrency could be used for nefarious purposes such as money laundering.
GlobalCoin will provide an affordable and secure way of making payments, regardless of whether users have a bank account, reads the report. Facebook is said to be in talks with online merchants in the hope they’ll accept the crypto in return for lower transaction fees.
Anyhow, regardless of Globalcoin’s exact nature, some have ventured that its launch will be the largest catalyst for Bitcoin adoption — and thus price — in this industry’s history.
Facebook announced it was launching GlobalCoin last December, though the company indicated that it was looking at cryptocurrency as far back as the end of 2017. The crypto is expected to be a stablecoin that will operate within the company’s messaging infrastructure – WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger.
Facebook has been rapidly moving forward with its crypto plans, reportedly hoping to launch its GlobalCoin by Q1 of 2020, according to reports. Tests are slated for later this year before launching in some countries.
