Facebook allegedly raising as much as $1 billion for its cryptocurrency stablecoin

Facebook is looking for VC firms to invest in its cryptocurrency project for sums as large as $1 billion, according to NY Times reporter Nathaniel Popper.

Since 2018 Facebook has been covertly working on a cryptocurrency project and building a blockchain division within the company.

The company has been tight-lipped about the purpose and progress of the coin, but Facebook has so far hired at least 30 people to the division with David Marcus-former head of Messenger, and the previous president of PayPal-leading the division as "Director of Engineering, Blockchain."

Update on Facebook's cryptocurrency: Sources tell me that Facebook is now looking to get VC firms to invest in the Facebook cryptocurrency project we reported on earlier this year.

Based on Facebook's financial statements, the company has $10 billion in cash and cash equivalents alone-the corporation is flushed with cash.

One person I spoke with said that Facebook is talking about using the money as collateral for its cryptocurrency.

The last time Facebook raised funding was through a venture round on Mar. 10, 2012, for an undisclosed amount.

The last public amount that Facebook raised was on Jan. 21, 2011 for $1.5 billion from firms including Goldman Sachs Investment Partners and DST Global, according to CrunchBase.

For reference, Facebook's market capitalization is more than double the market capitalization of all cryptocurrency projects combined, sitting at $500 billion.

Worldwide, Facebook reaches a massive 2.3 billion monthly active users.