With Blockchain, Facebook May Be Looking to Cut Out Credit Cards
*By Christian Smith*
Facebook announced Tuesday it was creating a blockchain division to be led by a senior executive in what may be an effort by the social media company to develop its own payment system that cuts out credit card companies.
"I would definitely imagine payments is going to be a big part of it," said TechCrunch's Editor-at-Large Josh Constine about Facebook's blockchain initiative. "Facebook's opportunity there is to cut out the credit card companies. Facebook wants to be the new layer for commerce."
When a user makes a purchase through Facebook using a credit card, the customer pays a small percentage or flat fee. Using blockchain technology, Facebook could create its own payment system that would would eliminate the fee and streamline purchases.
The executive who will be in charge of the initiative, David Marcus, previously ran Facebook's Messenger app and was a co-founder of the online payment service PayPal.
Facebook also [announced](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebooks-c-suite-shuffle) Tuesday that its longtime chief product officer, Chris Cox, will oversee Facebook's "family of apps," which include Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Chris Daniels, who led Facebook's Internet.org connectivity efforts, will take the helm at WhatsApp after its co-founder, Jan Koum, announced last week he was leaving the company. Adam Masseri, who runs Facebook's NewsFeed, will take over as Instagram's vice president of product.
When Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014, the social media giant promised the leaders of those companies a degree of autonomy. As Facebook installs its own leaders in executive positions over those companies, that autonomy appears to be shrinking. Constine said the decision could affect the way people view Instagram and WhatsApp compared to Facebook.
"WhatsApp and Instagram are kind of the hedges against threats to Facebook's brand. With all the recent Cambridge Analytica scandals, when Facebook was really getting hit with a lot of criticism that didn't necessarily flow over Instagram or WhatsApp," said Constine in an interview Wednesday with Cheddar. "They were sort of the lifeboat for Facebook's brand just in case people started to really hate on the big blue social network."
Constine also said that more closely associating Facebook with Instagram and WhatsApp could end up being a boost to the brands.
"They're going to run essentially the Facebook playbook, which could actually end up being good because Facebook's been quite successful with that playbook," said Constine.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-getting-into-blockchain-as-company-reorganizes).
API platform RapidAPI recently became a unicorn with a $1 billion valuation after raising $150 million in a Series D funding round led by Softbank Vision Two Fund. Microsoft's Venture Fund, M12, and Andreessen Horowitz also participated. RapidAPI says it provides the world's largest API hub which enables millions of developers and companies to build software faster. Iddo Gino, founder and CEO of RapidAPI, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Facebook parent Meta officially has changed it’s ticker symbol from ‘FB’ to ‘META’. Paul Meeks, a portfolio manager, Independent Solutions Wealth Management, and a professor of practice in the Baker School of Business at The Citadel, joined Cheddar News to discuss why the tech giant has had to make big changes to its name, its ticker, and its business plans. "When you see what's happening in digital advertising — and there was a slowdown there even before the threat of a recession, which could cause a even more drastic slowdown next year — they had to pivot," he said. Meeks noted he sees Facebook dominating in the metaverse space going forward — whatever that may end up being.
In a recent Bumble survey, more than a third of respondents revealed that they would be willing to date people in other cities. Shan Boodram, a sex and relationships expert for the app, joined Cheddar News to talk about the long-distance dating trend and tips on how to go about taking part. "I think this is the magic of what we experienced over the past couple of years, is that we have already learned the tools necessary to stay connected with people despite not being able to be close to them," she noted. Boodram also pointed to Bumble's travel mode and using video conferencing in order to ease into such relationships.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: CEO of Achieve Life Sciences discusses a new plant-based compound that's being used to fight nicotine addiction; President & CEO OF DiaMedica Therapeutics explains a new ischemic stroke treatment option that expands the window for effective therapy for stroke patients; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Asteroid Rush.'
We are already starting to feel the effects of summer. Heat waves in Texas and California are already sending temperatures soaring. That could spell trouble for the nation's power supply. there are new concerns about outages in many areas of the country. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier explains the two main causes of blackouts, and what states are doing to keep the lights on and the air conditioning running.
U.S. stocks close Tuesday at session highs after a subpar start to the trading day. Tim Chubb, Chief Investment Officer at the wealth advisory firm, Girard, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. 'We're starting to see the moderation of three core things -- we've seen the moderation of prices, we've seen the moderation of wage growth we've seen in the labor market, and we've also seen a moderation of job openings,' he says.
