Meta Plans Virtual Currency ‘Zuck Bucks’ And NFTs To Diversify Revenue And Revitalise User Base

Meta Plans Virtual Currency Zuck Bucks And NFTs

Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, has announced plans to create its own virtual currency, which the staff have dubbed as “Zuck Bucks.” 

The firm is working on various virtual products to diversify its revenue and revitalise its user base, which is increasingly flocking to newer competitors such as TikTok. 

Meta has plans to integrate NFTs into its social media apps. “Social tokens” or “reputation tokens” are examples of products that the company is looking at. These could be utilised as rewards by consumers. It’s also looking at “creator coins” that influencers on Instagram can use.

However, “Zuck Bucks”, a nickname that refers to Meta founder, chairman, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, will not be a blockchain-based cryptocurrency.

According to a report in the Financial Times, “Meta is leaning towards introducing in-app tokens that would be centrally controlled by the company, similar to those used in gaming apps such as the Robux currency in popular children’s games, Roblox.”

In May, the company will launch a pilot initiative to allow users to upload and share NFTs on Facebook. The next step will be to test a feature on Facebook that will allow users to join NFT-owning and minting groups. Meta intends to monetise NFT sales on Facebook using fees and/or adverts.

The plan to launch “Zuck Bucks” isn’t the first time Facebook is thinking of dabbling in cryptocurrencies. In 2019, Facebook had proposed developing a worldwide cryptocurrency, dubbed Libra, only to be slammed by politicians and central bankers who claimed the project would undermine existing currencies. 

In late 2020, Facebook renamed Libra as Diem and tied the virtual currency to the US dollar after several partners abandoned the project. However, the rebranding didn’t please regulators, and Diem was shelved earlier this year because of regulatory concerns in the US.

Before that, in 2009, Facebook had considered entering the virtual money realm when it introduced Facebook Credits to allow in-app purchases in then-popular games like FarmVille.

Despite its initial popularity, Facebook shut down the service four years later due to costs associated with foreign currency changes, which made the service unmanageable.