Mark Zuckerberg's company Meta is considering launching its own cryptocurrency, this time not in a regulated traditional market, but in the metaverse. Meta, the parent company of social media giant Facebook, plans to introduce tokens and digital currency into its ecosystem and provide lending services for apps including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger.
The company is aiming to explore alternative sources of income as interest in Facebook and Instagram among users is declining. The potential Meta cryptocurrency, which employees inside the company have named "Zuck Bucks" after CEO Mark Zuckerberg, will be used in the metaverse.
Meta is currently exploring centrally controlled tokens to be used in its applications like in-game currency. The company is also considering creating "social tokens" to reward participation, as well as "coins for authors", influencers. The head of the financial division of Meta, Stephane Kasriel, said at the beginning of the year that the company is exploring the possibilities of creating a cryptocurrency in the Metaverse.
"We are making changes to our product strategy and roadmap so we can prioritize building the Metaverse and how payments and financial services will look like in this digital world,"
Kasriel said.
The introduction of cryptocurrencies into Meta applications may occur simultaneously with the study of the integration of non-fungible tokens for Facebook and Instagram. Meta plans to launch an NFT pilot program as early as May 2022.
Perhaps Mark Zuckerberg decided to take advantage of the unregulated market of the metaverse to realize his project to create a cryptocurrency for the ecosystem of his products. Given the predictions of the integration of the metaverse into the traditional financial system, there is an opportunity to circumvent the restrictions of regulators by launching your own cryptocurrency even before this integration.
In March, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg told the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference that the company would complete work on integrating NFT into Instagram in the "near future."