Facebook’s top-secret blockchain strategy appears to be gaining momentum after David Marcus, who is leading the social media giant’s efforts, stepped down from the board of Coinbase less than a year after he joined as one of the $8-billion startup’s directors.
Marcus’ departure from Coinbase was first reported by CoinDesk, which was told by a Coinbase rep that “Marcus’ decision to step down was made to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest,” but did not provide further details. Marcus was named as the head of Facebook’s new blockchain research unit in May, having previously served as the vice president of Facebook’s Messenger app team – and is also the former president of PayPal.
While Facebook has remained tight-lipped about its blockchain strategy, Business Insider reported that executives from the social media company have met with reps from Stellar, a cryptocurrency payment technology startup. This hints at the possibility that Facebook could be looking to launch a payments network.
Facebook has also surrounded Marcus with some serious talent on its blockchain team, as Business Insider notes:
Marcus is one of several heavy hitters Facebook has assigned to the effort, which some observers have interpreted as an indication of just how serious the Silicon Valley giant is about it. In addition to Marcus, the blockchain team includes Kevin Weil, the former head of product for Instagram; James Everingham, Instagram’s former head of engineering; and Evan Cheng, one of Facebook’s veteran senior engineers.
Facebook announced its blockchain research team at its F8 conference in May.
Photo: TechCrunch/Flickr