Caffeinated Capitalists: Venture Capital’s 25 Favorite CafesRead More

Facebook executive David Marcus. Photo: Facebook

Facebook’s David Marcus: Ready to Launch Crypto Wallet This Year

By  |  Aug. 25, 2021 3:09 PM PDT
Photo: Facebook executive David Marcus. Photo: Facebook

Facebook staff “feel pretty committed” to the launch this year of a digital wallet that would allow its 2.9 billion users to store cryptocurrencies, said David Marcus, the social network’s top crypto executive, in an extended interview with The Information. That release could potentially happen before the introduction of diem, the digital currency that the company is separately helping to develop, he said.

Although Marcus has publicly stated that Facebook was getting closer to launching its Novi wallet, his comments marked the most specific timeline he has provided. They signal that Facebook in the coming months will start playing a direct role in the $2 trillion crypto market—possibly exposing billions of people to digital currencies for the first time—and entering a market dominated by Coinbase and Gemini, which operate crypto wallets for their traders.

Marcus said he would prefer to introduce the Novi wallet together with diem, a form of digital currency known as a stablecoin that would be tied to the U.S. dollar. But that rollout is largely in the hands of the Facebook-backed nonprofit in charge of the new stablecoin. Marcus, who is on the Diem Association’s board, said he didn’t have much visibility into the regulatory process involving the stablecoin. In the interview, Marcus also discussed dogecoin, ethereum, bitcoin, and the need for regulations to protect individual investors who “basically lose all of their money.”

Get access to exclusive coverage
Read deeply reported stories from the largest newsroom in tech.
Latest Articles
 
Surreal Estate real estate
Silicon Valley’s Realtors, Like Its Bankers, Are Having a Tough Month
Art by Clark Miller
In early March, Ken DeLeon, founder of DeLeon Realty, a Silicon Valley–based brokerage that sold more than $1 billion in homes in 2021, called one of his venture capitalist clients to discuss the purchase of a $20 million–plus megamansion. The client was flip-flopping between a cash offer and a loan. “First Republic Bank has a 10-year loan at 4.65%,” DeLeon informed...
Latest Briefs
 
Taking Aim at OpenAI, Databricks Releases ‘Dolly’ Language Model
UK Says Microsoft’s Activision Bid Won’t Harm Console Market, Dealing Blow to Sony
Heated Reaction in China to TikTok CEO’s U.S. Testimony
Stay in the know
Receive a summary of the day's top tech news—distilled into one email.
Access on the go
View stories on our mobile app and tune into our weekly podcast.
Join live video Q&A’s
Deep-dive into topics like startups and autonomous vehicles with our top reporters and other executives.
Enjoy a clutter-free experience
Read without any banner ads.
Cover art and portraits by Clark Miller
The Big Read
The Instant Oral History of the Silicon Valley Bank Collapse
On a cosmic level, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank was a mere blip. The murmurs about trouble began last Wednesday, the panic spread via group texts and Twitter threads on Thursday, the bank went under on Friday, the government got its act together on Saturday, and on Sunday every current and former customer of SVB could breathe a cautious sigh of relief.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk last August. Photo by Bloomberg
Exclusive startups electric vehicles
SpaceX Plans New Funding With Backing From Saudi, UAE Investors
A subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s investment fund and an Abu Dhabi investment firm are planning to invest in a multibillion-dollar funding round for SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket company, according to people familiar with the investor discussions.
Clockwise from top left: Julie Bornstein, Esther Crawford, Mark Hammond, Max Cutler, Kağan Sümer. Photos via Julie Bernstein, Robert Cowherd, Microsoft, Wikimedia and Kağan Sümer.
Free Agents startups
On the Market: The Founders Who Joined Microsoft, Spotify, Coinbase and Twitter
Call them acqui-fires. Several founders who took positions at the bigger tech companies that bought their startups recently lost their jobs when layoffs rolled through Silicon Valley.
Tonal’s now-shuttered Palo Alto, Calif. retail store. Photo by Getty.
Exclusive startups
Tonal’s Valuation May Fall 90% in ‘Cram-Down’ Financing
Tonal, a fitness startup with a cadre of celebrity backers, is crunched for cash after failing to find a buyer.
Art by Clark Miller.
Opinion startups economy
SVB Is Dead. Long Live SVB.
We all know how it began. It started on March 9, when the run on Silicon Valley Bank made the innovation economy totter and threatened a global financial crisis.
Bill Gurley in 2019. Photo by Bloomberg
Exclusive
Good Eggs Cuts Its Valuation 94% in Lifeline Financing as More Startups Get Desperate
As more startups struggle to raise money from venture capitalists and approach bankruptcy, they are going to extreme lengths to stay afloat.