Meta, Formerly Facebook, has filed Eight Cryptocurrency Trading Applications.
Important points
According to a trademark attorney, Meta, which changed its name from Facebook last October, has filed eight crypto-related trademark applications.
Among the applications are crypto tokens, blockchain software, virtual currency exchanges, financial and currency trading, and digital, crypto, and virtual currencies.
At the time of publication, Meta had not responded to an email requesting comment on this development.
On Wednesday, Washington D.C. trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis tweeted about Meta, Facebook’s parent company, filing eight different cryptocurrency-related trademark applications. According to the lawyer’s Twitter message,
“Meta Platforms has filed 8 trademark applications for its Logo. The applications cover:
Crypto tokens
Blockchain software
Virtual currency exchanges
Financial + Currency trading
Digital, crypto, and virtual currencies
#NFTs #Metaverse #Cryptocurrency”
Kondoudis stated in a separate press release, ” “These filings reflect the company’s plan to enter the metaverse. Meta clearly has large plans for the virtual economy that will power it. The latest trademark filings by Meta will undoubtedly pique the interest of participants in the financial sector and beyond.”
A quick search of the United States Trademark Electronic Search System revealed that the filings took place on March 18, and that Kondoudis was not the attorney of record for the applications. Meta did not respond to an email requesting comment on this development.
Meta has been interested in cryptocurrency and blockchain for many years.
Last October, Facebook renamed itself Meta as a more comprehensive umbrella brand that included not only its former namesake social media platform, but also several other acquired assets such as Oculus virtual reality and WhatsApp. Earlier that month, the company announced a pilot project with Coinbase to offer Facebook’s own digital wallet, Novi, to users in specific geographies.
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That Novi project was a much smaller version of Facebook’s failed crypto launch of its own Libra token in 2019, which was scrapped after harsh criticism from central banks and policymakers. The central banks were concerned, perhaps correctly, that Libra would be used as a quasi-sovereign currency in poorer countries. Since then, Libra has been completely restructured, renamed Diem, and removed from Facebook’s direct oversight or management.
However, a number of US senators slammed the Novi project and wrote to Zuckerberg, pleading with him to halt it. “Given the scope of your company’s scandals, we write to express our vehement opposition to Facebook’s revived effort to launch a cryptocurrency and digital wallet, now branded ‘Diem’ and ‘Novi,’ respectively.” According to the senators’ letter.
Since then, Meta’s cryptocurrency efforts have appeared dormant, with the resignation of Novi wallet cofounder David Marcus in November 2021 and the company’s decision to sell its remaining stake in the Diem project completely in January of this year.
However, this new trademark application clearly resurrects those crypto dreams.
What’s next for Meta’s cryptocurrency ambitions?
According to Meta’s trademark applications, the company may develop its own blockchain, crypto trading exchanges and crypto token and coin(s). Coins such as Bitcoin run on their own blockchain, while tokens run on other blockchains. ShibaInu, a well-known example of a token, currently operates on the Ethereum network. This is significant because it suggests Meta’s vision is much broader than a closed, proprietary system.
Politicians will undoubtedly be enraged by Meta’s renewed cryptocurrency vision.
“Unfortunately, Facebook’s decision to pursue a digital currency and payments network is yet another example of the company’s “moving fast and breaking things” (and in too many cases, misleading Congress in order to do so). Facebook cannot be trusted to manage a payment system or digital currency when its current ability to manage risks and keep consumers safe has proven to be completely inadequate “as stated in the aforementioned senatorial letter sent to then-Facebook in October of last year.
It will be interesting to see how this cabal of senators reacts to Meta’s trademark filings, and whether Meta’s crypto future thrives or perishes as a result.