"Wired": When Xiao Zha starts talking about money, FB Coin will become points instead of cryptocurrency
This article comes fromWired, original author: Gregory Barber
Odaily Translator |
Odaily Translator |
Everyone laughed when it was said that Facebook was going to pay attention to user privacy, and you must have forgotten the "Cambridge Analytica" scandal.
Facebook was not friendly to user data before. To use an inappropriate analogy, they either left your data in a city square or in your living room.
In the short term, Facebook may not immediately make money from the payment business, but it seems that Facebook does not care about this "little money". The main purpose of their cryptocurrency launch is to allow you to spend more time "sticking" on Facebook.
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Mark Zuckerberg Doesn't Talk About Blockchain, He Talks About "Money"
Today's Facebook has put its focus on channel construction. If all goes well, the success of its platform business will be a matter of course. At the F8 developer conference just held, Mark Zuckerberg did not mention the word "blockchain" too much, but emphasized that Facebook plans to reorganize users' network relationships so that they can Get a more intimate experience on the Internet, and the word Zuckerberg mentioned the most is-"money".
Mark Zuckerberg said:
“I think sending money to other people should be as easy as sending a photo. A core feature of Facebook’s forward-looking vision for privacy will be — simple and secure payments.”
Mark Zuckerberg is clearly thinking beyond the peer-to-peer payment services provided on Venmo and Facebook Messenger, so he urgently needs to carry out a series of "business reforms" on Facebook, including: making the Instagram digital mall better checkout, exchanging emojis , and make it easier for small and medium merchants to post products on WhatsApp, helping them complete transactions through instant messaging applications.
At the latest F8 developer conference, Facebook revealed that WhatsApp Pay has begun trial operation in the Indian market, and may expand the service to markets in other countries by the end of this year-for now, the platform is not Blockchain-based, but specifically designed for peer-to-peer payments. However, it should be noted that since 80% of small and medium-sized enterprises in India are using WhatsApp to sell their products, the upgrade of payment methods on this platform is also a natural evolution. After all, cryptocurrency is one of the best solutions for cross-border payments . In December last year, Bloomberg reported that Facebook's first cryptocurrency test may take place in India, because Facebook Coin was originally designed to help Indian overseas workers send money home.
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Facebook Coin is a kind of points?
Another key point mentioned in the Wall Street Journal report is that Facebook may integrate their cryptocurrency into its lucrative advertising ecosystem, although Facebook revealed that this plan may need further discussions internally. If it is really as described in the report, Facebook Coin may have two effects on the Facebook advertising ecosystem:
First, merchants can use Facebook Coin to pay for advertising;
Second, users can be rewarded with Facebook Coin tokens if they view the advertisement or interact with the advertisement.
Of course, this model is not new. For example, the Brave browser has launched a similar feature, and users can get token compensation for clicking ads in the browser. For users, Facebook Coin may make them realize for the first time that they can make money through "following", rather than just being a money-making tool for Internet giants. For Facebook, cryptocurrencies allow them to strengthen the concept of privacy in their advertising business, while also tightly binding Facebook Coin and its users to the Facebook platform.
But the question is, if Facebook Coin is used in Facebook ads or other ecosystems, is it still a real cryptocurrency?
University of Toronto professor Joshua Gans said:
"I feel like everything Facebook is doing right now is about increasing user engagement with its platform."
Compared to transferring money between friends and family, providing remittance services to businesses is the real challenge, because businesses may sell their Facebook Coin at the end of each month's financial settlement/clearing and exchange them for legal tender.
As the Wall Street Journal pointed out, at least at this stage, the Facebook Coin model looks more like a loyalty point system — people can use the token to get services on Facebook and spend them within the Facebook system. , or exchange goods through cooperative merchants. In this regard, there are actually precedents in the technology industry. For example, Uber’s previously launched “Uber Cash” uses funds in specific applications to motivate users to make purchases inside and outside of the Uber APP; and Apple’s “Apple Card” "The purpose is similar, but Apple realizes that this is just a service that allows users to buy more Apple applications and products, but it is not intended to subvert the credit card industry.
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Facebook Coin has many challenges
A Facebook company spokesperson recently responded to some of the chatter in the market, saying:
“Facebook, like many other companies, is exploring ways to leverage blockchain technology, and we currently have a whole new small team exploring different applications of blockchain technology.”
It is undeniable that in the field of cryptocurrency, Facebook still needs to face many challenges, including:
1. How the Facebook Coin cryptocurrency system is supervised;
2. Privacy issues that users are concerned about;
3. How to determine the business process of currency inflow and outflow;
4. How to trade with other cryptocurrencies - this operation is usually handled by the exchange;
5. If Facebook Coin uses the "basket of currencies" model for anchoring in order to avoid volatility, how to deal with the impact of legal currencies in the global economic system, which is dominated by the euro, Japanese yen and US dollar. It is also impossible for Facebook Coin to remain stable with every currency in the world. This is not the way the world works, so it is necessary to enlist the help of financial partners to make transactions inside and outside the Facebook system smoother.
