Social media giant Facebook is launching a team dedicated to exploring blockchain technology.
The initiative will be spearheaded David Marcus, who has served as the company's vice president for its Messenger app division.
"After nearly four unbelievably rewarding years leading Messenger, I have decided it was time for me to take on a new challenge. I'm setting up a small group to explore how to best leverage blockchain across Facebook, starting from scratch," Marcus wrote in a post on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
A report from Recode indicated that while the team will have fewer than a dozen people, it will feature engineering and product staff from Facebook's Instagram unit as well.
Although it remains unknown at this stage the exact work to be carried out by the new team, the news marks a notable move by the social media giant.
It also follows a remark made by the ex-PayPal president - who joined the board of directors of crypto exchange Coinbase last year - that Facebook Messenger is open to the idea of embracing cryptocurrency payments once the blockchain community can "Fix all the issues."
The formation of Facebook's new blockchain team follows a platform-wide ban on cryptocurrency-related ads, with the social media company cciting concerns that users had been exposed to fraudulent ICOs and cryptocurrency schemes.
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies.
CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.
Facebook's David Marcus to Lead New Blockchain Research Unit
Publié le May 8, 2018
by Coindesk | Publié le Coinage
Coinage
Mentionné dans cet article
Nouvelles récentes
Voir tout
Blockchain Bites: Bitcoin's Run, Uniswap's Hemorrhaging Value, Anchorage's Banking Bid
Bitcoin is nearing all-time highs in price and market cap last set three years ago.
Japan's megabanks to lead experiment with digital yen
We have, in order, Cheese Bank with a $3.3 million theft, Akropolis with its $2 million loss, Value DeFi with a whopping $6 million exploit and finally Origin Protocol's loss of $7 million.
Number of new Bitcoin addresses spikes amid growing FOMO
Japan's three largest banks, as part of a group of 30 private sector actors, are set to collaborate on an experiment with a digital yen.
Not just Wall Street: Quant trader explains why Bitcoin price is going up
Sam Trabucco, a quantitative trader at Alameda Research, believes four general factors are pushing up the price of Bitcoin.