Meta reportedly making ‘Zuck Bucks’, but it won't be a cryptocurrency

Meta may have given up on its Diem cryptocurrency, but the company is still exploring finance products, according to a new Financial Times report. Facebook’s parent company is exploring the potential of digital money referred to internally as “Zuck Bucks” in a play on the founder’s name, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.

According to the report, Zuck Bucks are unlikely to be a cryptocurrency. It says that Meta is leaning towards in-app tokens that will be centrally controlled by the company, similar to those used in games like Roblox. The popular children’s game Roblox has an in-game currency named Robux and the gaming company has built a huge business selling Robux. The Instagram parent company may try to emulate some of that success on its own platforms.

The report in FT, citing a memo, says that Meta may be planning to launch a pilot for posting and sharing NFTs on Facebook in mid-May. Soon after, Meta will test allowing membership of Facebook groups based on NFT ownership and another for minting NFTs. Zuckerberg announced in March that the company is bringing NFTs on Instagram as well. Further, the report says that Meta is exploring “social tokens” or “reputation tokens” which could be issued as rewards for meaningful contribution in Facebook groups.

Meta is looking to diversify its revenue beyond a reliance on targeted advertising that has provoked concerns about invading users' privacy.

In a statement to The Verge, a Meta spokesperson said that the company has no update to share as of now, but it continuously considers new product innovations for people, businesses, and creators. The spokesperson also stressed on the company’s focus on building the metaverse as of now.

This means that we will have to wait to find out what this Zuck Bucks project will bring - if it will be a cryptocurrency only or an in-app token, as predicted by the Financial Times report.