Tagged: facebook

June 15, 2020 @ 7:28 am By Omar Faridi  |  

WhatsApp Payments, an in-chat payment feature that lets customers perform transfers through the messaging app to anyone in their contact list, may finally be on track to achieve mass adoption in India. WhatsApp is owned by Facebook, (NASDAQ:FB) who bought the social media platform in… Read More

June 14, 2020 @ 4:40 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

  The controversial Facebook-led Libra project is reportedly the most active project in terms of developer activity, according to CoinCodeCap data. There are 41 active developers working on Libra, meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH), the world’s largest smart contract platform, has 36 active developers, the data site… Read More

June 1, 2020 @ 11:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Stablecoins are digital assets pegged 1-to-1 (in most cases) to major world currencies like the  US dollar or British pound (GBP), or even gold.  In most cases, stablecoin tokens are based on blockchain or some type of distributed ledger technology (DLT). The largest amount or… Read More

May 23, 2020 @ 2:54 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

We recently talked to Lex Sokolin, the Global Fintech Co-Head and CMO at ConsenSys, a leading Ethereum (ETH) development studio based in New York. Before joining ConsenSys, Sokolin was the Global Director of Fintech Strategy at Autonomous Research, a firm that was eventually acquired by… Read More

May 19, 2020 @ 9:27 am By JD Alois  |  

The Libra Association, based in Switzerland, continues to build out its executive bench. Today, Libra has announced the selection of Robert Werner as its General Counsel. Created by Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Libra is envisioned as a digital currency operated on a distributed ledger platform. According to… Read More

May 14, 2020 @ 7:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Libra Association has added three new members: Temasek, Paradigm, and Slow Ventures. Launched by Facebook, the Libra Association is a Switzerland-based independent entity seeking to launch a blockchain-based payment system. Recently, Libra tweaked its white-paper backing away from its original intent to launch a… Read More

April 21, 2020 @ 7:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Heifer International, a nonprofit entity that aims to address issues related to global hunger and poverty, is the most recent organization to join the Facebook-led Libra Association. Heifer claims that the Libra stablecoin and payment system (under development) could help low-income farmers gain access to… Read More

April 16, 2020 @ 11:01 am By JD Alois  |  

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has distributed a statement on Libra’s application for a “payment system license.” Initiated by Facebook, Libra is a digital currency attempting to facilitate payments globally outside of the traditional payments rails. The Libra Association is headquartered in Geneva,… Read More

April 16, 2020 @ 10:34 am By JD Alois  |  

The Libra Association, Facebook’s push to create a global non-sovereign digital currency, is applying for a Payment System License from the Financial Markets Supervisory Authority (FINMA) in Switzerland. In addition to applying for the FINMA license and updating the white paper, the Libra Foundation reports… Read More

March 4, 2020 @ 12:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Menlo Park, California-based social media giant Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) appears to be stepping away from the controversial Libra cryptocurrency project that it introduced in June 2019. Facebook’s management says it will be creating several separate or independent virtual tokens, with each pegged or backed by different national… Read More

February 21, 2020 @ 3:40 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Traditional banks may be at risk of losing their leading position when it comes to developing national digital identity solutions. Big tech firms and various other multinational networked companies might be able to offer better digital identity schemes and take the lead, industry association Mobey… Read More

February 21, 2020 @ 12:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

In a release today, Shopify announced that it had joined the Libra Association, the entity in charge of launching Facebook’s proposed non-sovereign digital currency. Shopify appears to have ignored the trend where multiple members have exited the consortium as it has become more apparent that… Read More

February 3, 2020 @ 11:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ajay Banga, CEO at payments giant Mastercard, recently talked about why his company decided to leave the controversial Facebook-led Libra global payments and stablecoin project. Banga claims his firm doesn’t quite understand Libra’s business model. He told the Financial Times: “When you don’t understand how… Read More

January 20, 2020 @ 11:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Libra Association has reportedly established a five-member “Technical Steering Committee” in order to manage the ongoing development of the controversial Facebook-led stablecoin and digital payments project. The five members include Diogo Monica, co-founder at Anchorage, George Cabrera III, core product lead at Calibra (the… Read More

January 19, 2020 @ 7:58 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The challenger bank trend first began in Europe and has been gradually spreading to other parts of the world. Traditional banking challengers have been growing steadily and have managed to attract large investments. FT Partners’ new report, titled The Rise of Challenger Banks: Are the… Read More

December 28, 2019 @ 9:00 am By Cali Haan  |  

Switzerland’s finance minister and outgoing president, Ueli Maurer, says he doesn’t think Facebook’s proposed Libra cryptocurrency project can proceed in its current form, Reuters reports. This is mainly, “because central banks will not accept the basket of currencies underpinning it,” Maurer claimed. “The project, in… Read More

November 13, 2019 @ 10:30 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Christian Catalini, co-creator of the Facebook-led Libra payment system and head economist at Calibra, a subsidiary of the social media giant that’s focused on developing a digital wallet for Libra, says he’d been doing research in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space for many years before… Read More

November 12, 2019 @ 7:41 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A Dutch court has determined that Facebook has the means at its disposal to restrict Bitcoin and cryptocurrency ads featuring celebrities who did not consent to the use of their name or image, Dutch News reports. Judges in Amsterdam have also threatened to fine Facebook… Read More

November 12, 2019 @ 3:40 pm By JD Alois  |  

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has launched a payment platform, Facebook Pay. The new payment service will be available across the entire Facebook ecosystem including Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. The news was revealed in a blog post today by Deborah Liu, VP, Marketplace & Commerce. The payment service… Read More

November 12, 2019 @ 1:55 am By Cali Haan  |  

CEO Patrick Collison of Stripe told Wired magazine last Friday that he’s, “very skeptical of anyone who’s adamant that crypto’s gonna work,” but said he thinks companies should experiment even if the chance of success seems slight. Collison reportedly made the comments while doing on… Read More