Facebook aims to Raise $1 billion for Its Crypto Project

Facebook plans to raise approximately $1 billion for its crypto project. The firm allegedly wants to raise the funds through investments from venture capital firms. It would make the currency one of the most used decentralized money in the world.

Update on Facebook’s cryptocurrency: Sources tell me that Facebook is now looking to get VC firms to invest in the Facebook cryptocurrency project we reported on earlier this year. I hear they are targeting big sums — as much as $1b.

— Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) April 8, 2019

This follows from the firm’s plans at the end of February. Facebook reportedly declared that it would be launching a crypto asset. The virtual currency would be fiat-pegged and would allow the users of WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, to send their friends or family money. Four people familiar with the operations of Facebook revealed that the firm seeks to introduce its crypto asset in the first half of this year.

As we previously reported, this coin is set to change how the general public sends and receives money. Facebook has a 2.5 billion user base. When these people embrace the Facebook coin, virtual currencies could easily reach mass adoption.

Popper believes that this plan aims to make Facebook’s crypto coin look like a decentralized currency. He said,

Given that one of the big allures of blockchain projects is the decentralization, getting outside investors could help Facebook present the project as more decentralized and less controlled by Facebook.

— Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) April 8, 2019

He added that one of his sources claimed Facebook would use the funds as collateral for its virtual currency. Facebook is allegedly creating its coin to remain with a stable value by backing it with several fiat currencies in bank accounts.

Not everyone is positive about Facebook’s crypto coin

While a sizable number of people in the crypto community are positive about the Facebook coin, others are just not having it. In a recent interview, Andreas Antonopoulos, the author of mastering Bitcoin said, 

Facebook will sell the financial [data] of dissidents to the dictators hunting them down and get people killed. Because that is how fiat works.

Facebook’s coin set to get competition from Telegram’s Gram

Telegram, an instant messaging app, announced in February that its upcoming crypto project named Telegram Open Network (TON) is 90 percent done. The company seeks to create a crypto wallet, which will allow its users to send or receive money through its token named Gram. Last year, Telegram published a blog post revealing that it had raised $1.7 billion in what is considered the biggest ICO in the crypto space.

Although Telegram is relatively new compared to Facebook, its Gram token has what it takes to compete against Facebook’s coin when both virtual currencies go live.

Do you think the Facebook coin will help the crypto sector reach mass adoption? Let us know in the comments section below.