Facebook’s secret blockchain group is in the midst of an aggressive hiring push, sending “staffers to crypto conferences around the world to recruit researchers, cryptographers, and top academics in the field,” Cheddar reports.
There’s only one problem: With Facebook’s reputation at its lowest point right now – given a succession of scandals that are mostly tied to its mishandling of data, the company is being met by resistance by some potential recruits, according to Cheddar.
To kick-start its plans, Facebook has shown interest in hiring teams behind nascent cryptocurrency and blockchain-related projects, according to people familiar with the matter. Some of the projects in which Facebook has shown interest are far from the production or deployment level — an indication that Facebook is keen to quickly scoop up talent in the industry.
But that hunt for talent hasn’t been easy.
Despite its interest in several crypto start-ups, Facebook has encountered problems with recruiting due to the negative perception of its brand and many public scandals, according to people who have had discussions with the blockchain group in recent months. Many in the crypto and blockchain industry see heavily centralized, data-hungry companies like Facebook as the very entities they are trying to disrupt.
Facebook has been tight-lipped about its blockchain research unit, which is being led by David Marcus, former president of PayPal and former vice president of Facebook’s Messenger app team. The blockchain unit has about 40 employees, according to Cheddar, which includes several former PayPal executives and – as Business Insider previously reported – Kevin Weil, the former head of product for Instagram and James Everingham, Instagram’s former head of engineering.
Central to Facebook’s blockchain strategy appears to be an effort to disrupt the payments industry, which is why the company has stacked its team with former PayPal execs and why the company met with reps from Stellar, a cryptocurrency payment technology startup, as Business Insider reported. Cheddar also reported back in May that Facebook is exploring the possibility of creating its own cryptocurrency.
Per Cheddar:
“They have a massive installed user base,” said Drew Hinkes, an adjunct professor at the New York University School of Law who specializes in blockchain and cryptocurrency. “They probably are looking at China and seeing how popular mobile commerce has been there and wondering why we can’t do that.”
And much like WeChat, the do-everything messaging app at the cornerstone of Chinese digital life, Facebook has an opportunity to offer financial services beyond payments, namely loans and bank accounts, from which it could eventually profit.
The fact that Facebook is actively recruiting academics and looking at early-stage crypto projects suggests “they want to develop their own new network as opposed to leveraging someone else’s” according to Hinke.
Facebook announced its blockchain research team at its F8 conference in May.
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