Facebook’s cryptocurrency might work like loyalty points

Enlarge / Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg checks his phone during the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 13, 2018 in Sun Valley, Idaho. (credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

If Facebook's pivot from town square to private living room wasn't laden with enough irony, here's a new twist: big business, it appears, has been invited to join us by the fireplace.

On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported new potential details about Facebook's long-awaited cryptocurrency plans. The company is reportedly seeking dozens of business partners, including online merchants and financial firms, in an effort to extend the reach of its blockchain-based marketplace. Facebook's would-be partners are being asked to pitch into an investment fund, valued at $1 billion or more, that would serve as backing for Facebook's coin and mitigate the wild, speculative swings that make cryptocurrencies like bitcoin hard to spend. The pitch, according to the Journal, involves offering merchants lower fees than credit cards.

Some were quick to note that this would reduce Facebook's ability to make money from payments in the short term. But that may not matter much-if, in the end, Facebook's crypto effort is really all about getting you to spend more time glued to Facebook.

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