One of the world’s most influential social media companies, Facebook, is considering building products and features related to non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. Facebook executive David Marcus spoke in an interview that the company is definitely looking at the number of ways to get involved in the space because “we think we’re in a really good position to do so.”
Marcus is in charge of the F2 Group, otherwise known as Facebook Financial. The group is tightly connected to developing the company’s Novi digital asset wallet.
“When you have a good crypto wallet like Novi will be, you also have to think about how to help consumers support NFTs,” Marcus noted, despite not revealing any specifics about what kinds of NFT-related products Facebook might build.
According to the Facebook executive, the Novi wallet is going to be an integral part of the Diem (ex-Libra) digital currency rollout.
Diem evolved from a multi-currency basket stablecoin to a stablecoin backed by the US dollar. However, there is still no evidence of when and how Facebook would do the Diem rollout, as regulators around the globe made a massive pushback on the idea of a Facebook-managed stablecoin.
David Marcus also unveiled a “last resort” plan of action - launching the Novi wallet without the Diem stablecoin, but the F2 leader believes both should go hand-by-hand in order to change the way people make payments.
Marcus also added that countries in the West will struggle to keep up with China in adapting to a world where digital payments are dominant if they don’t make serious innovations in payments technology.
“We’re really falling behind at an alarming rate,” F2’s lead concluded.
Meanwhile, another social media giant, this time in the face of TikTok’s parent company – Bytedance, may also enter the NFT marketplace sector. The founder of Bytedance, Zhang Yiming revealed the company’s upcoming plans on WeChat, which include the acquisition of virtual reality (VR) company, Pico, as a confirmation of entering the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) sphere.
The deal between Bytedance and Pico is worth around 5 billion yuan. Such a deal, between two giant companies in China, is believed to make a positive impact on the fight with the crypto crackdown Chinese authorities are imposing. Furthermore, the high-ranking market position of these two brands may spark the flame of the market uprising against the measures the Chinese government forced.
However, China actively works towards the expansion of its DC/EP CBDC program and the extinction of the decentralized systems in China. However, the crackdown doesn’t stop Chinese SaaS solutions and Blockchain applications provider, Powerbridge Technologies Co., Ltd from signing a crypto mining rigs partnership with Cryptodigital Holdings Ltd. Under the partnership, Powerbridge would purchase a total of 5,600 Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) Mining Rigs by October 2021.