Meta may have given up on its cryptocurrency Diem, but it is still exploring financial products, according to a new report from the Financial Times. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram is reportedly planning to launch its own currency called “Zuck Bucks.”
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Zuck Bucks, seemingly named after Meta founder, chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are “unlikely” to be a cryptocurrency. “Instead, Meta is leaning towards introducing in-app tokens that would be centrally controlled by the company, similar to those used in gaming apps such as the Robux currency in the popular children’s game Roblox,” according to the FT. Roblox has built a huge business selling Robux, and Meta could try to emulate some of that success on its own platforms.
Meta hasn’t completely distanced itself from blockchain products, as the company is also looking into posting and sharing NFTs on Facebook. The FT says the company plans to launch a pilot program to do just that in mid-May, according to a note, and soon after, Meta will test enabling “participation in Facebook groups based on NFT ownership.” The FT previously reported on some of Meta’s NFT plans for Facebook and Instagram in January, and Zuckerberg announced in March that NFTs would be coming to Instagram.
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Additionally, Meta is exploring “social tokens” or “reputation tokens,” which “could be issued as rewards for significant contributions to Facebook groups, for example,” the FT reports. The company is also apparently looking at traditional financial services like small business loans.
“We have no updates to share today,” Meta spokeswoman Lauren Dickson said. “We’re constantly thinking about new product innovations for people, businesses, and creators. As a company, we’re focused on building the metaverse, and that includes what payments and financial services might look like.”
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We'll have to wait and see how Zuck Bucks or other rumored projects play out and whether they can help Meta overcome some of its recent problems. But one high-profile person seems to be a big fan of Facebook's plans: former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.
