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Facebook's crypto secret division reportedly made its first acquisition by discreetly integrating the bulk of the research team into a blockchain start-up specializing in the development of smart contracts.
Facebook acquires researchers from Chainspace
Selling anonymous sources, the Cheddar Financial Newspaper announced that Facebook had acquired Chainspace, a blockchain firm founded by researchers at University College London.
The Chainspace website describes its project as "a platform of global smart contracts" that uses a "distributed web network of blockchains for scalability, speed and privacy".
A banner at the top of the website reads as follows:
"We are excited to announce that the team is moving on to something new. Chainspace code and documentation will always be open-source and all previously published academic work remains available.
Quoted in the report, a Facebook spokesman confirmed that former Chainspace employees were working in his blockchain division, but he was pretty much all for the rest:
"Like many other companies, Facebook is exploring ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology. This new small team is exploring many different applications. We have nothing to share. "
According to Cheddar, this was an acquisition, suggesting that Facebook was more interested in Chainspace's research team than in its technology, and the company's spokesman reportedly denied having acquired Chainspace technology.
Facebook could create a cryptocurrency WhatsApp
Facebook's cryptocurrency could be integrated with WhatsApp, sources said. | Source: Shutterstock
As CCN has reported, Facebook has been working for some time on a blockchain and / or cryptocurrency project. The company did not understand the form of this project, but sources said it would probably take the form of a fiat-supported "stablecoin" built into the WhatsApp chat platform.
The social media giant has "aggressively" hired Blockchain developers and currently has about 40 employees working on its cryptography project. David Marcus, former Messenger Manager and former member of the Coinbase Board of Directors, leads the initiative.
Earlier, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledged to make cryptocurrency research one of his personal challenges for 2018.
This story begins … Come back for updates.
Featured Image of REUTERS / Dado Ruvic / Illustration / Photo File
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