Facebook acquires Chainspace – A Blockchain based Smart Contract Development Platform

Facebook has recently acquired a Blockchain based smart contract development platform Chainspace. The company has hired employees from Chainspace and will not acquire any of its technology (in a move called acqui-hiring). Now, Facebook’s blockchain team will expand as four of the five researchers behind the Chainspace white paper will join Facebook according to Cheddar’s Sources.

Last year in May, the social media giant had formed a new blockchain team led by David Marcus, the former president of PayPal, and Kevin Weil, former product head at Twitter and Instagram. This was largest yet, and the most transparent move by Facebook around blockchain.

Chainspace is an 11-person company that was started by five well-credentialed co-founders, including two Cambridge PhDs, several researchers from the University College of London, and part of the core group of people from Vega Protocol—a blockchain public network for trading financial product. It has been building a decentralized “smart contracts” system that could facilitate payments and other services through blockchain technology.

Did you know Facebook has been pursuing IP related to digital currency since 2007? During that time, the company applied for a patent to allow its users to give gifts via a social network and display icons representing assets like digital or virtual assets.

Like many other companies, Facebook is exploring innovative ways to leverage the power of cryptocurrency and blockchain integrations. This recent strategic move is set to augment Facebook’s growing blockchain division. The company is already in process of implementing blockchain into its social media platform, including plans to launch a native cryptocurrency, and developing a stablecoin for its Indian WhatsApp users.

Moreover, there is a possibility that a FaceCoin could be introduced to incentivize users to engage with Facebook platforms. As the users of Facebook are cautious to update a status or upload a family photo due to hacking and insecurity, the social media company could incentivize users with, one FaceCoin per uploaded photo to encourage users to spend more time on the platform. The social-networking king has monetized its platform through advertising, and now the digital-payments industry could be the next way to diversify revenue and provide a future source of growth.

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