Meta may have abandoned its cryptocurrency Diem, but the company is still exploring financial products, according to a new report from the Financial Times. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram reportedly has a few irons in the fire, including virtual currency employees who appear to have taken to calling it “Zuck Bucks.”
Apparently named after Meta founder, chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Zuck Bucks is “unlikely” to be a cryptocurrency. “Instead, Meta is leaning towards the adoption of in-app tokens that are centrally controlled by the company, similar to those used in gaming apps like the Robux currency in the popular children’s game Roblox,” according to the FT. Roblox has built a huge business selling Robux, and Meta may be looking 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 in mid-May to do just that, according to a memo, and soon after, Meta will test whether “Facebook group membership based on NFT ownership and a other for embossing” of NFTs is possible. The FT previously reported on some of Meta’s NFT plans for Facebook and Instagram in January, and Zuckerberg announced NFTs were coming to Instagram in March.
In addition, Meta is investigating “social tokens” or “reputation tokens” that “could be issued as rewards for meaningful posts in Facebook groups, for example,” reports the FT. The company also appears to be looking into traditional financial services, such as small business loans.
“We don’t have any updates to share today,” meta spokeswoman Lauren Dickson said in a statement to The Verge. “We are constantly thinking about new product innovations for people, companies and developers. As a company, our focus is on building for the Metaverse, and that includes what payments and financial services might look like.”
We’ll have to wait and see how Zuck Bucks or other rumored projects play out and if they can help Meta overcome some of his recent troubles. But one high-profile person appears to be a big fan of Facebook’s plans: Ex-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.
insanely great™️
(Please let this be true)
— jack⚡️ (@jack) April 6, 2022