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Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd
Facebook is planning to launch its own cryptocurrency in early 2020, allowing users to make digital payments in a dozen countries.
The currency, dubbed GlobalCoin, would enable Facebook's 2.4 billion monthly users to change dollars and other international currencies into its digital coins. The coins could then be used to buy things on the internet and in shops and other outlets, or to transfer money without needing a bank account.
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and chief executive of Facebook, last month met the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, to discuss the plans, according to the BBC.
Cryptocurrency without the pseudonymity? I think it'll work fine if they make it as easy to use as PayPal - and their blockchain processes transactions quickly, even without billions of records on it. Maybe we'll even finally get real microtransactions.
(Score: 2) by zocalo on Wednesday May 29 2019, @10:44AM
Whichever way you cut it though, this is basically a means to print money for FB; they'll get even more data on their users by tracking their purchases, which will then be directly linked to accounts and can be used for more efficient targetting of ads that can be sold to their customers (i.e. ad brokers) at a higher rate, and they'll also get to hold a float of fiat currency belonging to those who sign up to this which can then be invested, or even just parked in an interest bearing account. It also further ties at least some of FB's users into the platform, making it even harder for them to leave, which should at least in part address any concerns they may have over things like #deletefacebook and stagnating user growth.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!