Facebook to launch a WhatsApp crypto for remittances in India

There have been reports that Facebook is working on a blockchain project. The reports come amid the social media giant’s hiring spree for blockchain experts and developers. Besides, a report published by Cointelegraph on December 21 indicates that Facebook is creating a digital asset whose purpose is to enable transfer of funds via WhatsApp.

The report says that the new project will concentrate on the Indian market in its initial stages. Another global financial publication, Bloomberg cites sources privy to the matter pointing to a direction that the social media guru will be launching a stablecoin. However, the industry should not expect the digital asset anytime soon. This is due to the fact that the company is still looking into the issue of custody assets. In other words, the asset that its stablecoin will be pegged to.

The Indian market continues to grow significantly in terms of international funds transfers. A recent report by the World Bank indicate that the region received approximately $69 billion in remittances last year. This figure represents at least 2.8% of the nation’s GDP.

WhatsApp on the other hand, has over 200 million active users the Indian market region. Similarly, this number continues to grow as smartphone penetration reaches the rural areas. In addition to that, reducing costs of the internet is a boost to the messaging app.

Facebook continues to change its perspective of the virtual currency market. It had banned cryptocurrency related adds in January 2018. However, it later removed the ban, joining the likes of Twitter in monitoring the kind of adds run on its platform.