Facebook launched a WhatsApp cryptocurrency payments service pilot in the US with the help of the Novi wallet and the Pax Dollar stablecoin.
Facebook (now Meta) wanted to launch a cryptocurrency payment service of its own a few years ago. The idea was that people would use it together with a Facebook-made digital wallet to send and receive money via chat apps like Messenger or WhatsApp. Called Libra, the project saw plenty of resistance from users and regulators, and Facebook seemingly abandoned it. But the company didn’t give up altogether. The metaverse teasers from Mark Zuckerberg included cryptocurrency references just a few weeks ago. Fast-forward to mid-December, and WhatsApp has now launched a pilot program to support instant crypto payments in the US. Formerly known as Libra, Facebook’s cryptocurrency is now called Diem. It’s a stablecoin digital token, which means it would be pegged to a specific value, and that would reduce volatility significantly. Thus, the cryptocurrency would be suitable for payments like the ones WhatsApp will support. However, Facebook isn’t using Diem for its WhatsApp payments — more on that later. Facebook also created a digital wallet, which investors use to store their coins securely on a device. The wallet will also make it possible to make cryptocurrency payments between people. The initial Libra wallet had a similar name — Calibra.
