Meta has filed new trademark applications related to Meta Pay – a payment platform that will allow both fiat currencies and crypto.
The company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp filed five new applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
This is yet another in a series of plans that highlights the company’s determination to foray into the payments space. Patent filings cover the whole gamut of terms used to describe crypto-assets.
“Providing a financial exchange for the trading of digital currency, virtual currency, cryptocurrency, digital and blockchain assets, digital assets, digital tokens, crypto tokens and utility tokens,” the application reads.
Filed on May 13, other details of the trademark filing suggest that the social media giant may also venture into lending and investment services. This put it in the finance sector and invited a lot of scrutiny from lawmakers.
In other news, Meta has launched a pay button on contact cards for users of WhatsApp in Brazil and India. Company officials said this would allow users to send money to their contacts more easily.
Meta’s financial ambitions are being met, but challenges await
The company launched its Libra stablecoin project a few years ago, which quickly became the concern of lawmakers around the world. There was concern that stablecoins could threaten the national sovereignty of fiat currencies.
Facebook, as it was known at the time, rebranded the project to Diem, but eventually met its demise. Dim’s assets were sold, and Facebook has refocused on its financial ambitions.
Meta Pay, the non-fungible token, and paying content creators in its VR app are being closely monitored by the tech world and lawmakers.
Meta has received considerable scrutiny from regulators, but entry into lending could be particularly worrying. Other lending companies have been on the receiving end of regulatory action in the US