Social media giant Facebook seeks to raise up to $ 1 billion in external funding for its crypto project. The information is from the New York Times technology reporter, Nathaniel Popper.
According to the journalist’s publications on Twitter, sources said that Facebook is targeting “large sums of up to $ 1 billion” of capital companies to support investment in a stablecoin.
The information was posted on the Coindesk website. According to the feature, the company would use the funds as collateral to develop the project. However, the comments were not confirmed by Facebook or by potential investors.
Facebook has been developing its own money transfer system through WhatsApp, as revealed last December. The stablecoin may be tied to a “basket of foreign currencies held in bank accounts,” Popper said on Twitter.
The company also plans to list its stablecoin in exchanges. The product is expected to be launched in the first half of 2019.
Investment
Although the company is far from running out of money, the involvement of outside investors in the stablecoin project could help Facebook introduce the crypto project as “more decentralized and less controlled,” Popper’s source suggested. In April, the company registered the equivalent of US$ 44 billion in cash funds, according to CNBC.
Earlier this year, Barclays analyst Ross Sandler estimated that Facebook’s cryptocurrency could yield $ 3 billion to $ 19 billion in additional revenue by 2021.
To make this happen, the social media giant set up its blockchain team in May 2018. The goal is to exploit emerging technology. Since then, the company has sought to expand the team with new hires.
Recently, more than 20 positions have been opened, in functions related to the blockchain. This includes contacting an important business consultant.
Earlier this year, Facebook also hired employees from Chainspace, the startup behind a smart contracts platform.
