This article comes fromMediumTranslator | Moni
Translator | Moni
Yes, Facebook is going to issue coins.
Yes, Facebook is going to issue coins.
Regardless of whether they issued cryptocurrency/digital currency in the true sense, this move has caused shocks in the industry, but many people seem to have not seen through the real purpose of Facebook's doing so, and their "ambition" is actually bigger than any Bigger than anyone imagined—because Facebook could become the world's largest central bank.
According to previous reports in the New York Times, Facebook is likely to issue a stablecoin linked to traditional legal tender, and it is not only anchored to the US dollar, but is linked to a "basket" of foreign currencies. In other words, Facebook may hold a certain amount of dollars, euros, or other national currencies in its own bank account to support the value of each "Facebook Coin".
Facebook hopes that in this way, users of its instant messaging app WhatsApp can send money directly to their friends and family. Apparently, this move is in response to the threat of two potential competitors, Telegram and Signal. As mentioned in the New York Times report, last year, just after Telgeram announced that its cryptocurrency project had successfully raised $1.7 billion in funds, Facebook immediately began to secretly form a research and development team to develop its own cryptocurrency.Perhaps many people have not noticed a number - Facebook now has three heavyweight instant messaging applications, Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram, and how many users are there in total for these three applications? The answer is a staggering 2.7 billion! This means that approximately one in three people in the world use Facebook products. so,
The so-called "Xiang Zhuang's sword dance is aimed at Pei Gong", Facebook's doing this is not just to fight against competitors in the social network field, but will have a huge impact on the history of the world economy, and will even pose a serious threat to traditional financial giants. leading to their rapid extinction.
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goodbye! Visa and MasterCard
Visa and Mastercard are the two largest credit card companies in the world. It is because of them that consumers can complete payment transactions without carrying cash, and all payments are made directly by them. Background clearing and settlement with banks.
If Facebook Inc. issues its own cryptocurrency/digital currency, and all users load the Facebook native mobile wallet app with "Facebook Coin", there will be less and less need for credit cards. In fact, many online applications now tie user login and Facebook account integration together, so paying with "Facebook Coin" may only be a step away.
When you buy a cup of latte coffee at Starbucks, you can also pay directly through the "Facebook Coin" on your phone when you pay at the counter, without using Apple Pay or Google Wallet to pay. After all, these two applications need to be bound with bank cards. The process is also more complicated. Not only that, Zuckerberg will definitely launch a series of marketing incentives, users can get preferential discounts when paying with Facebook mobile wallets, and quickly seize the market share of mobile wallets.
So here comes the question again, what is the reason for you to convert your fiat currency into Facebook Coin and store it in your mobile wallet? The answer is actually - e-commerce.
E-Commerce F.0
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If the "Facebook Coin" is officially released, it will push e-commerce to a whole new level.
Online merchants can post and sell products directly in the Facebook application, and get a "one-stop" process service from product posting to payment. Merchants and consumers no longer need to enter credit card and PayPal account information, online shopping in the Facebook application only needs the following steps to complete:
1. Browsing products;
2. Find the product you like (click a like);
3. Click to buy;
4. Click OK.
(It is worth mentioning that the above situation has been running for many years in China’s WeChat wallet and Alipay)
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Facebook will be more powerful than any central bank in the world
If you think that Facebook only wants to apply its own cryptocurrency/digital currency in the field of e-commerce, then you really "underestimate" Mark Zuckerberg. According to the "New York Times" report, Facebook's encryption project is far beyond what people can imagine. They have already approached a number of cryptocurrency exchanges, and it is likely that they will be introduced to more consumers through the exchange, including non-profits. Facebook Users - Sell "Facebook Coin".In this way, it means that Facebook has the potential to create the world's largest private currency exchange market: the world's population is about 7.7 billion, of which China is the most populous country with about 1.4 billion people, and the number of users of WhatsApp is 100 million. More than 1.5 billion, if you add Facebook Messenger and Instagram, no legal currency in any country in the world can handle a potential user base of close to 2.7 billion people. And this is actually
What "Facebook Coin" is really trying to change - become the most held and used currency in the world!
At the same time, as "Facebook Coin" is more and more frequently traded by users, a huge derivatives market will also emerge - "Facebook Coin" futures, forward contracts, options, interest rate swaps etc.
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Will Facebook Become the Next Dark Web "Silk Road"?
Having said so much about the power of "Facebook Coin", let's finally talk about its potential risks.
The New York Times noted in its article:
"When Facebook issues cryptocurrency/digital currency, the biggest problem it faces is how much control it has over the currency. If the cryptocurrency will be put on exchanges, it means that Facebook needs to meet a certain degree of Regulatory requirements, costs will increase. However, it may be difficult for Facebook to make money from transaction fees, and criminals may also use Facebook Coin in illegal activities.”
Not only that, issuing cryptocurrency/digital currency will also put Facebook in a dilemma. First of all, one of the most important elements of cryptocurrency is privacy, but Facebook has not done a good job in protecting user privacy in recent years. Before that, they were regulated and criticized for the scandal of "Cambridge Analytica" illegally collecting personal data information. Users are suing, and it was recently revealed that the number of customer records affected in the breach could cost the company trillions of dollars in fines. Second, the launch of the "Facebook Coin" may also lead Facebook to go to the other extreme, that is, to guarantee absolute privacy for users, just like competitors Telegram and Signal are doing, which in turn may make Facebook likely to become Another dark web "Silk Road", criminals may use the huge Facebook social network to create a black market on the Internet, and engage in the sale and purchase of illegal goods (such as drugs).
