Facebook is Planning on Creating Its Own Cryptocurrencies.

On March 11th, Facebook revealed to Cheddar that they are in the beginning phases of developing a new cryptocurrency, which is a virtual token that would allow its billions of users around the world to make electronic payments.

Only one member of the corporate development team was devoted to studying blockchain, the digital and decentralized ledger that underpins cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Blockchain is the ledger system that underlies cryptocurrency, but it can have various uses. It doesn’t necessarily have to be used for cryptocurrency. However, earlier this week, the head of Facebook’s Messenger, David Marcus, announced he’d be leading a new group intent on exploring how to leverage blockchain technology across the platform

Recode reports “The blockchain, which serves as the technical foundation for all cryptocurrencies — like bitcoin — is all the rage. Facebook’s decision to pursue blockchain technology will most certainly add some validity to the crypto industry, which has been very chaotic. This doesn’t mean that Facebook will build its own cryptocurrency, but there are many ways that blockchain technology could be used that have nothing to do with cryptocurrencies, including encrypted data storage.”

Marcus is no rookie when it comes to this field because before he was working for the company, he was the president of PayPal, and was an early investor in Bitcoin. He is also on board of Coinbase, which runs one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges.

“Like many other companies Facebook is exploring ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology,” a Facebook spokesperson told Cheddar after this story was first published on Friday. “This new small team will be exploring many different applications. We don’t have anything further to share.”