Key Takeaways
- Facebook collaborates with Coinbase to release its crypto wallet
- Democratic senators pressure Facebook to abandon its cryptocurrency project.
- Novi pilot to allow users to make purchases; send and receive coins via their accounts.
Despite the continuous call for cryptocurrency adoption and its derivatives, Facebook seems to be having a rough time penetrating the crypto space.
Notwithstanding, Facebook resilience saw its collaboration with Coinbase heading for success.
But a few hours after the launch of its novel cryptocurrency wallet Novi came the clampdown from Elizabeth Warren and four other senators from the democrat party.
It appears that Facebook hiccups in getting into the crypto space are largely related to the numerous scandals and investigations around the company’s reputation.
In a letter written by the five senators and addressed to Mark Zuckerberg, they categorically stated their reservation for Facebook’s lofty crypto project.
According to the senators, their greatest dissatisfaction with Facebook's effort to penetrate the market is hinged on the numerous scandals on breaches of sensitive users' information.
Diem, initially designated as the libra, is Facebook's grandiose stablecoin initiative. The initiative has suffered intense scrutiny and regulatory bottlenecks for a good number of years.
As a result, important partners have backed out of the project. Novi is designated as the company’s cryptocurrency wallet and is built to accommodate the Diem token and other stable coins.
On 19th October 2020, Novi, in collaboration with Coinbase, debuted a pilot to operate in the US and Guatemala to offer users services on cryptocurrency custody.
The pilot was designed to allow users to make purchases; send and receive coins via their accounts.
The move on clamping down on Facebook's crypto ambition originated from the comfort of Senator Brian Schatz office. It was backed by Tina Smith, Richard Blumenthal, Sherrod Brown, and Elizabeth Warren.
According to them, it is unwise to entrust Facebook with handling payment systems or digital currency when it has failed in its responsibilities to keep its customers safe.
They went further to opine that Facebook has incessantly taken business decisions that have undermined the privacy of its users and society at large and shouldn’t be trusted.
In a letter unveiling the pilot, Marcus stated that the company’s ultimate aim is to transition Novi to the Diem payment system once it can secure regulatory go ahead.
In the digital arena, the company has much bigger goals than just owning a crypto wallet and stablecoin. About 72 hours ago,
Facebook announced its grandiose ambitions to maximize the half a decade to generate 10,000 high-skilled jobs in Europe to construct its metaverse.
Kindly share your thoughts with us on whether the democrats’ clampdown on Facebook cryptocurrency dreams is justified given the company’s past scandals?
