Reports say Facebook will announce its rumored cryptocurrency sometime in June, and will allow employees working on the project to take their salary in it.
Facebook appointed former PayPal executive David Marcus last year to explore opportunities with blockchain. Insiders say Marcus has focused on a digital currency, which users will be able to store, trade, and exchange for regular currency through Facebook apps including Messenger and WhatsApp.
Creating a simple way for Facebook’s more than 2 billion users to pay for things and exchange money between countries could help the company diversify beyond advertising, which today accounts for nearly all of its revenue.
The social network is reportedly planning a big push that would include bonuses for merchants that adopt the currency. The report from Silicon Valley based The Information, adds that Facebook is also planning real world ATM-like machines where users can buy it.
It adds Facebook is looking for third-party organizations to act as “nodes” to help manage the cryptocurrency. The nodes would be far more centralized than bitcoin with 100 or fewer in the payment network. The company would would charge licensing fees said to be $10 million per partner.
Facebook has declined to comment on the rumor.