Key Takeaways
- Meta is reportedly exploring the idea of using stablecoins for creator payouts.
- The GENIUS Act could boost Big Tech stablecoin adoption.
- As a debate on the bill looms, Big Tech hawks in the Senate want to prevent companies like Meta from issuing their own coins.
When Facebook abandoned its blockchain-based payments project, Libra—or as it was rebranded during its later stages, Diem—it seemed to spell the end of the company’s stablecoin venture.
But with Congress closer than it has ever been to passing stablecoin regulation after the Senate cleared the GENIUS Act for debate, Meta is primed to resurrect its ambitions in the space.
Meta Reconsiders Stablecoin Options
According to company insiders cited by Fortune, Meta is exploring adopting stablecoins for creator payouts as a way of avoiding the high costs associated with fiat transfers.
The firm reportedly reached out to crypto infrastructure builders earlier this year. But its current approach diverges from the Libra era.
Instead of building its own currency, the report said Meta is likely to adopt a more token-agnostic approach that supports a range of popular stablecoins like Circle’s USDC.
“What’s particularly interesting about Meta’s new approach is their focus on creator payouts rather than a full-scale financial ecosystem,” observed Dr. Zurab Ashvil, a former SoftBank executive and T3RRA founder who predicted Libra’s demise in 2019.
“This more modest strategy might help them sidestep some regulatory obstacles. But the question remains: Can any single corporate entity, regardless of its technological prowess, successfully navigate the competing interests of global financial powers?” Ashvil told CCN.
Such structural barriers are complex, and as recent developments in Washington demonstrate, the same political objections that killed Libra are still in play today.
Political Resistance to Big Tech Stablecoins
Responding to an initial draft of the GENIUS Act, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren condemned it for not including measures to prevent Meta and other Big Tech firms from issuing stablecoins.
“The draft bill still paves the way for Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and other Big Tech billionaires to pursue their own currencies—fueling conflicts of interest, undermining competition, threatening financial stability, and eroding financial privacy,” she lamented.
The latest reported changes suggest Senate Big Tech hawks have won at least some concessions, as do the crucial votes of 16 Democrats who allowed the bill to move to the floor.
As a debate on the legislation looms, expect both camps to push for amendments that will either tighten or relax the requirements for issuers.
GENIUS Act Paves the Way for Greater Adoption
With so much political resistance to the prospect of Big Tech-issued stablecoins, Meta doesn’t have any intention of reviving Libra. As CEO Mark Zuckerberg put it bluntly during a recent conversation with Stripe President John Collison: “That thing’s dead.”
But there are other ways that the GENIUS Act could ease the path of Big Tech stablecoin adoption aside from self-issuance.
Further cementing stablecoins as a reliable alternative to fiat-based payment channels, the bill would introduce reserve requirements and auditing standards intended to prevent the kind of malpractice that may lead stablecoins to depeg from the dollar.
Regulatory clarity will also give firms the confidence to make decisions after a period of legal uncertainty that suppressed experimentation with the technology.
When Big Tech companies have explored stablecoin use cases, they have typically done so in jurisdictions with existing licensing frameworks.
For example, last year, Amazon tested a tokenized seller receivables platform in Singapore, which has had a regulatory framework for stablecoins in place since 2023.
The Amazon case proves that Big Tech firms have an appetite for novel payment solutions. They only need the right regulatory guardrails in place to take the plunge.
James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
