Mark Zuckerberg’s social media giant Facebook reportedly plans to release its own cryptocurrency in 2020 called “GlobalCoin.”
BBC News reports that social media giant Facebook has plans to launch a new digital cryptocurrency called “GlobalCoin” as early as 2020. The Silicon Valley tech giant reportedly plans to launch the cryptocurrency payment system in “a dozen countries” by the first quarter of 2020 and will begin trials of the coin by the end of 2019.
Facebook has reportedly reached out to a number of individuals and groups for advice, including the U.S. Treasury and Bank of England governor Mark Carney. Internally, the cryptocurrency project is being referred to as “Project Libra.” Facebook has reportedly been in contact with both the Coinbase and Gemini cryptocurrency exchanges, looking to strike a deal with a third-party, regulated platform in which users could store and exchange the coin.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has a personal history with the owners of the Gemini exchange, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. In a situation that was dramatized in the 2010 David Fincher film The Social Network, Mark Zuckerberg was accused of stealing the idea for Facebook from the Winklevoss twins while they studied at Harvard University. Now, the Winklevoss twins have become billionaires via investment into bitcoin and founding the Gemini digital currency exchange, with plans to launch a Gemini dollar cryptocurrency in the future.
Facebook reportedly plans to use GlobalCoin to help Facebook users transfer money online and make purchases easily. Facebook registered a new entity called “Libra Networks” on May 2nd, this will apparently “provide financial and technology services and develop related hardware and software.” Facebook will reportedly be aiming to raise as much as $1 billion to fund the cryptocurrency project.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com