Facebook secretly developing cryptocurrency for WhatsApp users

CALIFORNIA: Tech giant Facebook is secretly working on developing a cryptocurrency that will let users transfer money on WhatsApp. Initially it will be launched in India, people familiar with the matter say.

Bloomberg reported that the company is developing a stablecoin -- a type of digital currency pegged to the U.S. dollar -- to minimize volatility.

“Facebook is far from releasing the coin, because it’s still working on the strategy, including a plan for custody assets, or regular currencies that would be held to protect the value of the stablecoin,” it said.

There were reports of Facebook making a move in financial services since it hired former PayPal president David Marcus to run its Messenger app in 2014. In May, Marcus became the head of the company’s blockchain initiatives, which haven’t been discussed publicly in detail.

The company is currently focused on launching the service in India, which has more than 200 million users and leads the world in remittances.

Indians living abroad sent $69 billion home to India in 2017, according to the World Bank.