The cryptocurrency community has been quite enthusiastic about a particular piece of news, as it appears as though Facebook might be developing its own cryptocurrency. This is quite the catalyst, as Facebook does boast over 2 billion monthly active users, meaning that this is much more than simply a social media platform utilizing cryptocurrency – it gives the opportunity for a significant portion of the world to participate in a blockchain ecosystem.

The news comes off the heels of the fact that Facebook has been aggressively hiring blockchain engineers, so it didn’t come as a complete surprise. The description for the job listings were quite cryptic: “The blockchain team is a startup within Facebook, with a vision to make blockchain technology work at Facebook scale. We’re exploring areas of interest across all facets of blockchain technology. Our ultimate goal is to help billions of people with access to things they don’t have now – that could be things like equitable financial services, new ways to save, or new ways to share information.”

Rumors Floating Around

Specifically, Facebook apparently is developing a stablecoin for Whatsapp, which it purchased for $22 billion in 2014, in arguably its most high-profile acquisition ever. The project is meant to disrupt the remittance industry, which is already worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

A Zilliqa enthusiast on Twitter by the name of Oliver Bell has pointed out that Zilliqa might actually be involved with the Facebook cryptocurrency. In a tweet that has circulated around the cryptocurrency community, he stated that there might be an extensive level of collaboration regarding Zilliqa and Facebook:

Rumour going around regarding Facebook building on $ZIL:

• Evan Cheng: Zilliqa advisor & head of blockchain at FB

• Mindshare partnership: FB is a partner of Mindshare

• Ex-Facebook head of blockchain quits Coinbase to avoid conflict of interest: ZIL gets listed on Coinbase — Oliver Bell (@Oly245) December 22, 2018

Zilliqa Denies Rumors

Zilliqa did pump 10% recently, and many believe that it’s because of the Facebook rumors. However, unfortunately for Zilliqa investors – there has been a development. The official Zilliqa Twitter account has denied the rumors completely. The account tweeted that not only were the rumors false, but advocated for supporters to stop sharing the rumor, as well. Many praised Zilliqa for its transparency regarding the response, as well. Zilliqa is a blockchain platform that is known for its scalability, and is currently the 32nd largest cryptocurrency project in the world, with a market capitalization over $200 million (as of press time).

Specifically, Zilliqa tweeted: “We have been made aware of a rumour that has been circulating on a potential collaboration with Facebook. This is a baseless rumour and we would like to ask everyone to refrain from sharing fake information on social media.” The tweet garnered over 150 retweets and over 400 likes. You can find the tweet below:

We have been made aware of a rumour that has been circulating on a potential collaboration with Facebook. This is a baseless rumour and we would like to ask everyone to refrain from sharing fake information on social media. — Zilliqa (No airdrops or ETH giveaways) (@zilliqa) December 23, 2018

Title image courtesy of BeatingBetting.co.uk