Hexus(London) : Facebook will launch its own cryptocurrency dubbed GlobalCoin early next year, according to various reportsthis afternoon. The BBC says that the controversial social media giant will set up its digital payments system utilising this cryptocurrency for widespread testing in a dozen countries in Q1 2020. Early testing might be undertaken with ‘GlobalCoin’ as early as summer, in preparation for the much larger scale rollout.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is said to have met with the BoE’s Mark Carney and US Treasury officials to talk about his plans, and potential operational and regulatory issues. The social network first hinted at its new cryptocurrency plans last year when it said it was working on ways to “leverage the power of blockchain technology”. Particularly, at that time, it was looking into digital currency conversions and use on the WhatsApp messaging platform, under the name ‘Project Libra’.

Facebook’s disruptive entry into online payments may be attractive to some web users, as it could effectively compete with banks, reduce consumer costs, and facilitate secure payments even for those without bank accounts. To gain traction for its cryptocurrency Facebook is also talking with third party online merchants to accept payments in GlobalCoin. A key attraction for merchants will be lower transaction fees, according to reports.

In contrast to some existing popular online currencies, Facebook’s GlobalCoin will seek to avoid large swings in value by being pegged to a basket of established currencies, including the US dollar, euro and Japanese yen.