Facebook Is On A Blockchain Hiring Spree

Facebook, the American online social media and social networking service company, which has now become a household name, worldwide, in on a hiring spree for individuals well conversant in the field of blockchain technology. They had started focusing on blockchain technology and subsequently forming a group, in mid-2018 and currently has over 40 employees in this department. The rumor mill has it that the company will be launching their very own digital coin, in the near future.

The former president at Paypal, and a Board Member in Coinbase, David Marcus has been a part of the blockchain exploration business strategy since May 2018, before which he was the VP of Messenger. Facebook’s blockchain team also includes some prominent tech experts, including several former directors at PayPal, and people who have worked on Google Pay and Samsung Pay.

Alex Heath from Cheddar in an interview said:

“They’ve been very quiet about what they’ve been working on, very stealthy… But it’s definitely going to be some kind of blockchain-based cryptocurrency payments product.”

As per reports, Facebook is exploring the market to provide a blockchain based payments methods for their 2 billion user base, though no explicit details have been released. It seems that the blockchain team has been working with that end in mind, towards the realization of that goal. However, since Facebook’s debacle related to the data-privacy and it was revealed that this corporate giant was selling their users data to third parties, without express consent from them, have resulted in a lack of trust from their users. The entire blockchain and cryptocurrency industry are very serious about privacy issues, as a decentralized system increases the risk factor. This situation has led to trouble regarding their recruiting efforts.

Another reason where Facebook is facing problems is that the industry is so young and the top talent so scarce. Thus a bit of controversy remains when it comes to the idea of Facebook and blockchain “marriage.” Though their exact plans are not known, that Facebooks is looking forward to upping their blockchain game is a given, at this point.

Rishma Banerjee

Rishma is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and has a special place in her life for sifting through all sorts of random trivia, thank you very much.