An exclusive source have confirmed that social media giant Facebook is diversifying its product line with a cryptocurrency of its own – Facebook Coin (FBC). Users will have to register to use the coin, but Facebook will guarantee that wallets and transactions will be completely anonymous.
The development has not been officially announced, but reportedly the coin is to be launched on the Ethereum blockchain via an ICO within the next two weeks. Given the size and reach of Facebook, it seems safe to assume that the ICO will rival the 1.2 billion dollars that Telegram raised in its own funding round .
Background
Facebook has been all over the news lately for all the wrong reasons. It recently came to light that the company sold the personal information of more than 50 million of its users to a political data analysis firm called Cambridge Analytica. Cambridge Analytica illegally used that data to influence the public in the buildup to the Brexit referendum in the UK and in the last US presidential election.
Unfortunately for Zuckerberg, belief in the community is collapsing. Millions of users have closed their profiles in the wake of the scandal, and the market capitalisation of Facebook has crashed from 538 to 464 billion dollars.
But what will be of more concern to Facebook is the financial penalty that it will have to pay. In 2011 Facebook signed a consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission following allegations that it failed to keep to its promises regarding the privacy of its users. The most recent breach has been found to be a violation of this agreement, and the penalty under US law is 40,000 dollars per violation. As the data of 50 million people was inappropriately used, the total fine will run into the trillions of dollars.
It seems that Facebook’s days as a social media platform may be numbered, which is why the board of the company has reportedly decided to branch out.
