Facebook Could Launch Its Native Cryptocurrency “GlobalCoin” in 2020

According to a BBC report published on May 24, 2019, Facebook is in the final phase of launching its secretive cryptocurrency project.

Crypto Project to Go Live in Q1 2020

Social media giant Facebook has for months been reportedly working on a cryptocurrency project. Reports until now have implied that the company is looking to establish a blockchain-powered international digital payments system which would run on a native cryptocurrency.

Now, the BBC states the firm’s cryptocurrency has been referred to internally as “GlobalCoin.”

The report adds that Facebook has already had a talk with Bank of England governor Mark Carney regarding the digital currency project. Reportedly, Mark Zuckerberg met Carney in April 2019 to weight the pros and cons of launching a cryptocurrency.

Facebook is also seeking advice on regulatory issues from the U.S. Treasury. Further, the multi-billion dollar enterprise is in talks with Western Union to explore cheap and efficient ways to enable the unbanked to send and receive digital currencies.

With a user base of more than two billion people, Facebook has positioned itself at the apex of the internet world. The company also owns other popular social media platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp, which could help it propagate its cryptocurrency system to an even wider audience.

Nicknamed “Project Libra,” Facebook’s digital payments system is aiming to disrupt the existing financial payments ecosystem, which still suffers from efficiency problems.

The company is expected to begin testing the platform in India by the end of 2019 despite the country’s ambiguous crypto regulations.

Most recently, Facebook registered a new fintech company in Geneva, Switzerland, with the name Libra Networks LLC. The company’s registration is expected to be part of a larger scheme of things involving Project Libra.

While blockchain evangelists argue that the entry of a big centralized corporate like Facebook in the crypto ecosystem could be detrimental for the truly decentralized projects, a recent survey in the U.S. found that about 18 percent of Americans are willing to invest in Facebook’s cryptocurrency.