- The new Facebook coin could be launched as early as next quarter, a report says
- A good chunk of those being hired to work on it has some affiliation with PayPal
- Peter Thiel is heading the team
We finally have some more details about the much-anticipated Facebook token, which has been in the works for some months now and has been the subject of much speculation. The project in question has seen a great deal of preparation such as Facebook taking over blockchain-related firms, hiring staff and so on.
However, the project has mostly been shrouded in secrecy and while a lot of the claims surrounding the token has not all confirmed, a May 8, 2019, report by Bloomberg sheds a bit of light on exactly those who will be working on Facebook Coin.
The Dream Team
While looking through all the talent that is supposedly going to be a part of the Facebook token, one standout fact is that a majority of those who have been recruited for its 50-person team have some sort of history with PayPal. In fact, David Marcus, the man who is heading the team, is a former president of PayPal.
It has also been estimated that 20 percent of the team’s members come from the payment platform and are reminiscent of the ‘PayPal mafia’, which was a group of executives who were well-known in the early 2000s, such as Elon Musk and Peter Thiel.
The reason of bringing all these important people together, however, is already known as Facebook is developing what is likely to be a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar or any other popular fiat currency and it is believed that the token will be launched as early as the next quarter.
The token is believed to be tied to it WhatsApp platform as in India, Facebook was already testing a product reported WhatsApp Pay and Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed that the company will expand its WhatsApp payment to other countries in time.
Marcus has been on Facebook since 2014, when he left PayPal to head it’s messenger product and has been involved in early plans to monetize the messenger and while he left messenger last year, he announced he’d be setting up a small group to explore how to best leverage blockchain around Facebook and will be starting from scratch.
While major details about the token have yet to be revealed, it is rather exciting to see what this team of well-regarded individuals will be coming up with once the token launches and details become public knowledge.