In 2019, Meta unveiled an ambitious plan, a new cryptocurrency designed for use across Facebook, WhatsApp and a range of other digital platforms.
However, the tech giant ultimately shelved the project in the face of strong opposition from Congress and other lawmakers.
Now, Meta appears to be cautiously re-entering the cryptocurrency space.
According to Fortune, which cited five sources familiar with the matter, the company is in early discussions with cryptocurrency firms about introducing stablecoins as a way to manage payouts.
Meta has also brought on board a new vice president of product with crypto expertise to help guide these explorations.
All five sources, who are known to Fortune, spoke on condition of anonymity due to the private nature of the discussions.
Stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies typically pegged to the US dollar, have been a prominent topic in the blockchain world for years.
However, regulatory crackdowns under the Biden administration hindered widespread adoption.
The election of Donald Trump in November, along with Stripe’s recent US$1.1 billion acquisition of the stablecoin startup Bridge, has since reignited interest, especially for cross border payments.
In recent weeks, major financial players have made moves into the space.
Visa announced a partnership with Bridge, Fidelity revealed plans to develop its own stablecoin, and Stripe introduced new stablecoin powered financial accounts.
Meta’s renewed interest mirrors a wider trend among non crypto companies beginning to explore stablecoin applications.
Lawmakers are currently debating two bills that would regulate stablecoins, an important development following years of legal uncertainty.
In January, Ginger Baker joined Meta as a vice president of product, bringing her background in fintech and payments.
According to her LinkedIn profile, she previously held an executive role at Plaid and currently serves on the board of the Stellar Development Foundation, a crypto organisation that manages a layer one blockchain.
She is now helping to lead Meta’s stablecoin efforts, a source familiar with the matter told Fortune.
Meta declined to comment and did not make Baker available for interview.
Earlier this year, the company began reaching out to crypto infrastructure firms, according to three individuals close to the discussions.
While conversations remain in their early stages, the focus has been on stablecoins’ ability to facilitate low cost international payments, which offer an advantage over traditional systems such as wire transfers.
An executive at one such crypto infrastructure provider suggested that Meta might integrate stablecoin based payouts on Instagram, allowing small payments around US$100 to creators in different regions.
This would result in lower transaction fees compared to fiat currency transfers.
They described Meta as currently being in a learning phase and suggested the company is likely to remain neutral in its choice of stablecoin provider, rather than exclusively adopting a token such as Circle’s USDC.
Two additional crypto executives also confirmed to Fortune that their early talks with Meta focused on the use of stablecoins for payouts.
Meanwhile, Circle brought on Matt Cavin in March from the gaming blockchain company Immutable.
According to a source with knowledge of the matter, Cavin is leading Circle’s discussions with Meta and other major tech firms.
His LinkedIn page states that he oversees “tier one strategic partnerships” without naming specific companies.
Circle also declined to comment.
Meta’s renewed exploration of stablecoins is especially significant given its history with digital currency.
In 2019, it launched a blockchain initiative that evolved into Libra, a proposed stablecoin backed by a basket of fiat currencies and supported by companies like Uber and PayPal.
The project was later renamed Diem but was ultimately scrapped in 2022 after intense regulatory scrutiny.
Diem’s assets were later sold to Silvergate, a crypto friendly bank.
Many former employees of the Libra project went on to found their own crypto ventures, including David Marcus, who co founded the Bitcoin payments firm Lightspark.
Others used Meta’s proprietary technology to launch their own blockchains, such as Aptos and Sui, both of which run on Move, a programming language originally developed by Meta.
At a Stripe conference on Tuesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged the failure of Diem during a live discussion with Stripe co founder John Collison.
“That thing’s dead,” Zuckerberg said, according to a video shared with Fortune.
When asked about Meta’s habit of being early to emerging technologies, Zuckerberg noted that it is “certainly more fun when you’re early than when you’re late,” but added, “there’s plenty of things that [we’re] late to, and have to claw our way back into the game, which I think we’re pretty good at that, too.”
Featured image credit: edited from freepik
