From Blanket Ban to Its Own Stablecoin: How Facebook's Relationship With Crypto Changed Over 2018

On Dec. 20, Bloomberg reported that Facebook is making a stablecoin for WhatsApp users.

Here's how Facebook's relationship with cryptocurrencies and blockchain has been developing in 2018 - overall, it has been a patchy road.January: Zuckerberg is being bullish about crypto; Facebook bans crypto ads.

There was a shorter-term effect, too: The Facebook blanket ban was followed by a large Bitcoin price drop, as it went from $11,200 to $8,800 over the few days after the decision was announced.

May: Facebook forms its Blockchain team; rumors about social media's own crypto emerge.

Cheddar's anonymous sources "Familiar with Facebook's plans" reportedly said that Facebook is "Specifically interested in creating its own digital token" for its 2 billion users.

On June 26, Facebook made somewhat of a U-turn in regard to its views on crypto.

In the accompanying announcement, Facebook said it has been looking into the best way of "Refining" its blanket ban on crypto-related ads "Over the last few months," in order to "Allow some ads while also working to ensure that they're safe."

In December, the Facebook blockchain arm's hiring spree was noticed by Cointelegraph, as the social media company listed at least five new blockchain-related positions on its careers page over three weeks, most of which have been closed as of press time.

According to data from the World Bank, the country received nearly $69 billion in foreign remittances in 2017, which is 2.8 percent of India's GDP. More specifically, Bloomberg's sources said that Facebook is developing a stablecoin.

As for public comments, Facebook has been forwarding the same statement since May, when first rumors regarding their own crypto emerged.