Facebook is no doubt the world’s largest social media platform in the world. However, it is not short of controversies and with accusations ranging from blatant privacy violation, blames that it is an arena of propagating hate and “fake” news, the company is innovating as they try to rectify, inculcating user feedbacks. Part of this shift is their realization that blockchain as a technology is here to stay and despite their earlier bans and localization of ads, they are now “listening to feedback”, relaxing their policies a year after banning cryptocurrency advertisement on their platform, effectively arresting ICO-related scams in response to regulators’ calls.
In a blog post, the social media giant said:
“We’ve listened to feedback and assessed the policy’s effectiveness. While we will still require people to apply to run ads promoting cryptocurrency, starting today, we will narrow this policy to no longer require pre-approval for ads related to blockchain technology, industry news, education or events related to cryptocurrency.”
Even so, ICOs and advertisements relating to cryptocurrency trading or mining are off and prohibited. However, restricted cryptocurrency advertisements as those promoting exchanges within certain jurisdiction will still require approval:
“This process will continue to take into account licenses they have obtained, whether they are traded on a public stock exchange (or are a subsidiary of a public company) and other relevant public background on their business.”
Project Libra and Face Coin is knocking
However, it is not about their readjustment of policy or their relaxing of cryptocurrency related advertisement. The furor is the timeliness of the announcement. Apparently, they are listening to clients’ feedback at a time when they are in advanced stages, searching for a $1 billion from investors as they prepare to launch a stable coin monetizing WhatsApp as a result.
The stable coin, Face Coin, will be not be pegged to the USD but will be reflective of their global stature meaning they will fix its value to a basket of global foreign currencies. The new stable coin will be more than a stable coin and an assess to the crypto space but will be a utility within the space as a form of payment.
Why Face Coin is Threat
Not only will advertising agents have incentives to use Face Coin under Project Libra but analysts argue that with more than 2 billion users, Facebook is slowly evolving from a tech to a payment company that will usher in masses, exposing crypto to billions of users around the world. Its stability will be Face Coin’s main value proposition effectively competing with other platforms as PayPal or Bitcoin for example. Besides speed and stability, the coin will also allow Facebook to reward users who interact with advertisement.
According to Michael Spenser,
“Facebook’s stablecoin, it appears, will thus be advertising centric. This is not a concept your general cryptocurrency audience is going to easily fathom the implications of. Facebook likely doesn’t even need the cash. Involving outside investors in the stablecoin project could help Facebook present the cryptocurrency project as “more decentralized and less controlled” by itself.”
Facebook is a heavy weight; it is well capitalized and its financial power enable it to innovate by acquisition. The launch of Face Coin serving a wide user base will make Facebook more than a social media or a tech platform but a payment processor, an advertising machinery and well, an e-commerce site boosting crypto adoption but a threat to other stable coins and even Bitcoin.