Meta Platforms Inc will release virtual tokens—informally called 'Zuck Bucks', and reportedly not on the blockchain—to supplement creator rewards and financial services on its plethora of apps, multiple reports claimed on Thursday. News agency Reuters reported that this move will help Meta focus on services centered around the metaverse, a virtual environment where people interact, work and play, and a brand new revenue channel and control over transactions in its suite of apps and services, which include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and the Meta Quest virtual reality platform.
This move comes after the collapse of Meta’s own cryptocurrency, Diem, which was expected to be pegged to a basket of sovereign currencies like the US dollar. The plan to release Diem had resulted in a firestorm from regulators across the world.
The Financial Times reported that Meta's plan was the creation of “social tokens” or “reputation tokens” and “creator coins” for, say, influencers on Instagram. The publication also reported that, according to one memo shared internally last week, Meta plans to launch a pilot for posting and sharing Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on Facebook in mid-May, and allow membership of Facebook groups based on NFT ownership.