WhatsApp Working On Cryptocurrency For Users to Transfer Money
The popular messaging platform has chosen India as its market to roll out the upcoming stablecoin.
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Facebook is keen for WhatsApp to have its own cryptocurrency that will enable users to transfer money on the messaging platform. According to a Bloomberg report on Friday, the platform is said to be working on a stablecoin version, that is first likely to be launched in the Indian market.
The concept of stablecoin kicked into action this year, with many believing this cryptocurrency to be less volatile for daily online purchases, especially than what we have seen with bitcoin over the past year or so. Stablecoins are pegged to regular currencies and hence likely have fewer fluctuations in value.
The intention of Facebook offering a stablecoin on Whatsapp is also a push towards its goal to adopt blockchain technology and take it mainstream. The report, however, is quick to establish that the release of the supposed digital coin is still some time away, with a strategy for its purpose still in the works.
Once the stablecoin is ready for public use, WhatsApp, according to the sources quoted in the report, will eye the remittances segment in the Indian market. WhatsApp, with its payment service in India, has paved its way through complex regulations, with one issue after the other showing up at its door.
First, it had to tackle the questions posed by Indian payment provider Paytm, which wasn’t pleased with how WhatsApp managed to circumvent diligent processes to offer payments in the country.
Paytm's founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma had said to The Economic Times that he would approach the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the body behind the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), as well as other authorities for redressal of the issue.
Post this, the messaging platform was asked to curtail its beta testing phase, and limit its usage to 100 million users that never got extended to everyone.
Now, if Facebook does intend to start off with WhatsApp’s cryptocurrency journey in India, it’s sure to come across more hurdles, especially with the country yet to warm up to the digital form of currency.
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