Meta reportedly plans to introduce digital currency and lending services to apps

Social media giant Facebook, whose parent company last year rebranded itself to Meta, is reportedly planning to launch a virtual currency along with lending services to apps it owns, with Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, possibly being among the impacted ones.

As per a Wednesday’s report by the Financial Times, the move towards digital assets aims to explore alternative sources of revenue as interest in Facebook and Instagram is continuously going down.

The company’s employees have reportedly dubbed the promising digital currency “Zuck Bucks” after its CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Facebook owner Meta targets finance with ‘Zuck Bucks’ and creator coins https://t.co/IcK6oAM0J7

— Financial Times (@FT) April 6, 2022

Meta aims to centrally controlled tokens

Meta is reportedly looking towards centrally controlled tokens to be used within its apps, akin to an in-game currency, rather than typical crypto linked to a blockchain, according to the article. According to reports, the company is also exploring establishing “social tokens” for engagement rewards and “creator coins” for influencers. Stephane Kasriel, the head of the finance division of the company, stated:

“We’re making changes to our product strategy and road map […] so we can prioritize on building for the metaverse and on what payments and financial services will look like in this digital world.”

The possible launch of virtual currencies into Meta’s apps comes in parallel with the company’s exploration of NFT integration for Instagram and Facebook. The recent report also claimed to be launching an NFT pilot program as early as May 2022. It has already filed eight trademark applications with USPTO with the aim to intensify its roots in Web3, crypto, and Metaverse.

In October 2021, Facebook rebranded itself to Meta, indicating that its concentration had shifted away from social media. Following the release of hundreds of papers implying that the corporation was not doing what it said in terms of eliminating hate speech and messages advocating violence from its platform, the company made the modification. In the fourth quarter of 2021, the number of Facebook users fell by about 500,000, and at least one expert anticipated that Instagram’s monthly user growth would fall from 16.5 percent in 2021 to 3.1 percent by 2025.