By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 12th, 2024
Russian officials think that Facebook’s Global Coin will have a massive usage across the globe and hence it would be easier to trade oil barrels in their currency.
The only discussion which is currently dominating the crypto world is the arrival of Facebook‘s native cryptocurrency, the Global Coin. Citing a report from The Information, CoinSeaker reported that the Global Coin launch could happen ahead this month. But just before the launch, the Global Coin has already started finding its applications.
According to the local report, Russia’s oil industry is currently looking for a possible use-case of Facebook’s Global Coin. To boost its economy, Russia is currently looking to expand its energy industry while gaining regional dominance wherever possible.
On the other hand, Russia has remained mostly uncertain of its future crypto plans. The cryptocurrency regulatory rules are long overdue which can put a clear picture of Russia’s stand. We expect Kremlin to soon come up with a decision on this matter.
Banking of Facebook’s Crypto Growth
Facebook’s entry in the crypto space is lauded by many as a potential game-changer for the crypto industry. Looking to its massive 2 billion user-base across the globe, Facebook‘s entry will give a massive push to crypto adoption. Mike Novogratz, the CEO of Galaxy Digital Holdings said that “Facebook is wildly important for the [crypto] ecosystem”.
Using Facebook’s Global Coin to measure the price of the oil barrels indicate that it could largely impact the global finance. Besides the Global Coin being a dollar-pegged stablecoin cut off the issues of volatility which other traditional cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are facing.
During the Facebook Developer conference earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg has already hinted that ‘payments’ shall be the company’s major area of focus in the coming year. However, despite its aggressive push, Facebook is likely to face some regulatory hurdles in its way ahead.
Regulatory Challenges Ahead
Rebecca Harding, the former chief economist at the British Bankers’ Association, notes that Facebook isn’t regulated the way banks are and neither the cryptocurrencies are regulated the way fiat currencies are. Besides, Facebook’s Global Coin must pass through all checks of KYC rules and anti-money laundering procedures.
Taking cognizance of this fact, Facebook has already approached the CFTC regulator for this matter. Besides, Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly met Bank of England governor Mark Carney in April 2019. Zuckerberg has reportedly Carney the benefits of using cryptocurrency to reduce financial barriers and costs.
On the other hand, Facebook’s reputation has not been so good off lately while dealing with customer information and privacy. Moreover, the social media giant has centralized control over its user and has been banning people because of their political beliefs. Thus, if Facebook continues to ban such people, they would be cut-off from the financial system.
Taking all these factors under consideration, it would be interesting to see how Facebook manages to sail through them.