Facebook Reportedly Aiming to Raise $1 Billion for Crypto Project

The social media giant is seeking support from venture capital firms to invest in its, revealed The New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper.
Popper, in a series of Tweets on 8th April, also stated that Facebook is targeting to raise as much as $1 billion for its ambitious cryptocurrency project.

Update on Facebook’s cryptocurrency: Sources tell me that Facebook is now looking to get VC firms to invest in the Facebook cryptocurrency project we reported on earlier this year. I hear they are targeting big sums — as much as $1b.

— Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper)

Pointing out the advantages of outside funding, the Times reporter noted: “Given that one of the big allures of blockchain projects is the decentralization, getting outside investors could help Facebook present the project as more decentralized and less controlled by Facebook.”
Moreover, according to Popper’s sources, the Menlo Park-headquartered tech company is planning to peg its digital tokens against “a basket of” fiats, to create a so-called stablecoins, avoiding the wild crypto market fluctuations and making the coin more usable.
“One person I spoke with said that Facebook is talking about using the money as collateral for its cryptocurrency. Facebook has been designing the coin to keep a stable value, pegged to a basket of foreign currencies held in bank accounts,” Popper stated.

It’s interesting to think of one of the richest companies on earth raising money. When was the last time they did outside fundraising?

— Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper)

Big Tech Moving Towards Crypto
Though Facebook did not announce anything officially about its cryptocurrency project, credible media reports, earlier this year, revealed that the company is eyeing to develop its .
The social media company, according to reports, is planning to make the token the native currency for all its major platforms – Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Moreover, Facebook is also eyeing to make a splash on the lucrative remittance market in India with its cryptocurrency.
According to a Barclays analyst, Facebook’s cryptocurrency might generate as much as – in 2017, the platform brought in $40.6 billion in total revenue, out of which $39.9 billion was generated from advertisements on the platform.