Later this month Facebook is planning to release new cryptocurrency. The new digital currency will be called GlobalCoin and will significantly differ from its main rival: Bitcoin.
The main difference between the Bitcoin and GlobalCoin would be the function of the tokens. GlobalCoin will act as a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar 1:1. Stablecoins are not regular crypto tokens. They only act as money within a narrow brand. This is not the first stablecoin on the market.
Judging from Facebook’s huge customer base, GlobalCoin will not take long to become a regular winning stablecoin on the market. Facebook owns Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. They will most likely integrate GlobalCoin as a payment tool on these social media platforms. Countries with volatile currency will be able to use GlobalCoin as a way to send money abroad and purchase items online.
Additionally, GlobalCoin will be regulated. Zuckerberg met with financial regulators in the US, UK, and other important jurisdictions to create a system for regulations. This will be very appealing to the general market.
The new currency is supposedly linked to a Facebook project code-named Libra. In the recent reports, we are finding out more details about the project. Facebook is supposedly planning on creating physical ATM-like machines, where customers will have the ability to purchase the digital token.
Current Staff on the “Libra” Project
According to CNBC, over 100 people are working on the new project right now and even more positions are available. The list of executives for the project was also reported, showing a very strong team in charge of the project. See the list below.
- David Marcus, head of block-chain project
- Tomer Barel, VP of risks and operations
- Kevin Weil, VP of products
- James Everingham, head of engineering
- Geoff Teehan, head of product design
- Eric Nakagawa, head of open source
- Raaid Ahmad, head of analytics
- Govind Asawa, head of data engineering
- Liver Gratry, head of finance
- Susan Portalupi, head of research
- Mandeep Walia, head of enterprise risk and compliance
According to the Facebook careers website listings, there are over 40 openings still available for the project. Most of the positions are located at Facebook’s headquarters in California. Some listings are in Tel Aviv, Israel, where the VP of the project Tomer Barel is located.
“The Tel Aviv engineering team will participate in shaping and pushing forward this vision, while focusing on the development of a state-of-the-art near real-time AI platforms, to serve the blockchain project,” according to one of the Facebook job listings.
Though the exact release dates are not known, the sources report that testing will begin at the end of 2019. The plan is to start with smaller countries where the traditional currency is not stable. The new digital currency will act as a “border-less currency” according to the reports.
Facebook will let an independent organization be in charge of this new project. By doing this, Facebook will likely try to deflect any accusations of centralization. The financial regulators will most likely accept the new crypto coin on the market easier this way as well.
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