New Delhi: Now eyeing the finance space, Facebook's parent company Meta is building a digital currency that it calls "Zuck Bucks". It is going to be a virtual currency for the Metaverse, media reports said. This is despite the fact that Facebook's cryptocurrency project Diem collapsed after facing several roadblocks from regulators.
Seemingly named after the company's CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Zuck Bucks won't be a cryptocurrency based on blockchain, but it will be an in-app token that will be centrally controlled by the Meta Group, according to a report published in Financial Times. Meta Financial Technologies, Facebook’s financial arm has been exploring the creation of a virtual currency for the metaverse, the report added citing people familiar with the development.
The concept of Zuck Bucks is entirely different from Diem, the company's failed crypto project that Zuckerberg tried to launch in 2019. In fact, Zuck Bucks will be similar to in-game currencies used on games such as Fortnite as well as Roblox.
A spokesperson for Meta said that the company had "no updates to share", but said Meta was "focused on building for the metaverse and that includes what payments and financial services might look like”, according to a report by Fortune.
Facing regulatory hurdles, Meta wrapped up its ambitious yet controversial cryptocurrency project that its CEO Zuckerberg once defended in front of the US Congress. Originally launched as Libra and later renamed as the Diem Association, the cryptocurrency initiative eventually collapsed.
Earlier in January, Diem reportedly was in discussions with investment bankers about "how best to sell its intellectual property and find a new home for the engineers who developed the technology". The association apparently made an arrangement with Silvergate Capital Corp to issue Diem digital token, but "resistance from the US Federal Reserve dealt the effort a final blow".