Project Libra: What We Know About Facebook's Forthcoming Cryptocurrency

The latest avalanche of news from Facebook makes this lead look less convincing, as it becomes apparent that the social media giant's blockchain project is also well underway.

According to The Information's report penned by Alex Heath and Jon Victor, Facebook's crypto project kicked off roughly a year ago when the company brought in David Marcus, former president of PayPal, to lead the charge.

In addition to registering a company called Libra Networks in Switzerland in May, Facebook bought out the trademark from a namesake blockchain startup.

The Libra team reportedly presented three possible investment scenarios to Facebook leadership, ranging from low to high commitment, and Zuckerberg ultimately opted for the maximum investment route.

As a borderless currency with no transaction fees when used within the Facebook ecosystem, the prospective coin is poised to make a considerable impact in developing countries, where the company is looking to primarily market it, according to The Information's report.

Facebook employees will be reportedly given an option to receive part of their salaries in the token, a detail that Gizmodo's Victoria Song called the resurgence of the "Company town dream" in the digital age.

The Information's sources claim that Facebook will use licensing fees to establish the initial pool of value for the coin.

Libra sits in the same market as Bitcoin, as a direct competitor, but Facebook has a mass following unlike Bitcoin.

"Is Facebook really moving into the cryptocurrency space? Or is it merely porting some crypto technology over to the traditional fintech industry?".

Facebook's initiative, Long predicts, will dramatically increase the pace at which people learn about cryptocurrency in general, and when the general public becomes educated enough, it will likely opt for bitcoin, which is scarce, rather than Facebook's token, which is not.