Meta (Facebook) Still Has a Blockchain Dream

Diem, Meta’s crypto venture, has been abandoned and the company sold off its intellectual property. However, CEO Mark Zuckerberg is not yet through with blockchain- technology based settlements. Meta said in its yearly 10-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that future efforts such as the Novi digital wallet may utilize “blockchain-based products” such as the Paxos Trust Company’s stablecoin USDP.

Additionally, the corporation said that a future endeavor “to facilitate trade in the metaverse” may include the usage of blockchain-based assets in digital payments. When Diem was assassinated, many speculated on the payment techniques Meta might use for its future virtual platforms. Zuckerberg said in October, when renaming Facebook as Meta, that the business will invest large resources in Oculus and other metaverse platforms.

He also demonstrated conference rooms, games, and other features created specifically for these virtual places. Meta said in its SEC filing that it anticipates government and regulatory monitoring of its future digital payment systems. This, along with the market’s acceptance of these new payment methods, leaves Meta unsure about whether its future payment systems will debut on schedule, or perhaps at all.

The corporation said that it is “cooperating” with government examinations into its digital payments and that unfavorable measures by regulators and governments might “damage” its business. The SEC filing, which comes days after Meta revealed disappointing fourth-quarter 2021 results, also echoed some of Zuckerberg’s worries on the company’s earnings call earlier this month.

According to Meta, Facebook’s user growth in places such as India has been stifled by rising data charges associated with prepaid cell contracts. Nevertheless, a decline in daily active users from the United States was also seen. Overall, Zuckerberg placed the blame at Apple’s new App Tracking Transparency regulations for the decline.

As per him, since the new laws prohibit corporations from monitoring user behavior throughout the Internet, Facebook’s ability to target advertisements online was harmed. In his October talk, Zuckerberg implied that one of Meta’s motivations for focusing on the metaverse was to avoid being bound by the regulations of corporations like Apple.

“The metaverse will not be built by a single corporation. It will be constructed by artists and developers who create new experiences and digital products that are interconnected and enable a far bigger creative economy than the one confined by today’s networks and their restrictions,” he wrote at the time in a post.

This suggests that, Diem or otherwise, Meta’s future goods will include digital currencies in the metaverse. Additionally, the corporation has been researching non-fungible tokens (NFTs) via platforms such as Instagram, which increases the pressure on the firm to include blockchain-based transactions into upcoming products.