Facebook has approach US regulators to discuss its digital coin ambitions: Report

Facebook Inc is in talks with the US derivatives regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), over the social media company’s plans for a digital currency, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

The regulator is in the early stages of talks with Facebook in an effort to understand whether the company’s plans for a digital coin would fall under the CFTC’s scope, the FT reported, citing Christopher Giancarlo, the head of the CFTC. According to him, there was no application to review at the moment.

In May, Facebook set up a financial technology company in Switzerland focusing on blockchain and payments as well as data analytics and investing.

Facebook plans to introduce a digital coin which will allow its users to send and receive digital currency through Instagram and WhatsApp. Facebook’s digital coin will be pegged to a fiat currency such as the US dollar or Japanese Yen to ensure the stability in the value of the coin. The speculated name for this digital coin is GlobalCoin.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal last month, Facebook is reportedly “recruiting  dozens of financial firms and online merchants to launch the network.”

Facebook declined to comment on the FT report.

With inputs from Reuters