Social media giant Facebook is seeking support from venture capital firms to invest in its crypto-related project, revealed The New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper.
Popper, in a series of Tweets on April 8, also said that Facebook hopes to raise as much as $1 billion for its ambitious cryptocurrency project.
Update on Facebook's cryptocurrency: Sources tell me that Facebook is now looking to get VC firms to invest in the Facebook cryptocurrency project we reported on earlier this year. I hear they are targeting big sums -- as much as $1b.
— Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) April 8, 2019
Pointing out the advantages of outside funding, the Times reporter noted: “Given that one of the big allures of Blockchain projects is the decentralization, getting outside investors could help Facebook present the project as more decentralized and less controlled by Facebook.”
Moreover, according to Popper’s sources, the Menlo Park-headquartered tech company is planning to peg its digital tokens against “a basket of” fiats to create a so-called Stablecoin , avoiding notoriously wild crypto market fluctuations and making the coin more usable.
“One person I spoke with said that Facebook is talking about using the money as collateral for its cryptocurrency. Facebook has been designing the coin to keep a stable value, pegged to a basket of foreign currencies held in bank accounts,” Popper stated.
It's interesting to think of one of the richest companies on earth raising money. When was the last time they did outside fundraising?
— Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) April 8, 2019
Big Tech Moving Towards Crypto
Although Facebook has not yet made an official announcement regarding its cryptocurrency project, credible media reports earlier this year revealed that the company is eyeing to develop its own digital currency called “Facebook Coin.”
The social media company, according to reports, plans to make the token the native currency for all its major platforms - Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Moreover, Facebook also hopes to make a splash on the lucrative remittance market in India with its cryptocurrency.
According to a Barclays analyst, Facebook’s cryptocurrency might generate as much as $19 billion a year in revenue. In 2017, the platform brought in $40.6 billion in total revenue, out of which $39.9 billion was generated from advertisements on the platform.
