The cryptocurrency wallet of the Meta platform that will be known as Novi will now allow sending and receiving of digital currency via WhatsApp. WhatsApp is Meta’s popular messaging application that is used by millions across the globe. So WhatsApp launches crypto payment pilot that will be powered by the digital wallet From Meta. This is said to be the future of cryptocurrency 2021.
WhatsApp Launches Crypto Payment: Testing Transactions
This pilot program can be availed by a limited number of users from the United States as per the head of Novi, Stephane Kasriel, who made the announcement of the launch on Twitter. This Novi powered feature of Meta has launched six weeks ago with the payments done by using Pax Dollars (USDP). Pax Dollars is a stablecoin that is backed by the US Dollars and is issued by Paxos.
As per the website of Novi, sending any payment operates similarly to sending any other type of attachment in WhatsApp. The users can access the feature through a + icon on the iOS or a paper clip icon on the Android and then from the appearing menu, the user will be required to select “Payment”.
The official website of Novi notes that there will be no charges levied for receiving or sending money, no barriers on the frequency in which the payments can be sent, and also no charges to maintain a balance on your Novi account or to withdraw the balance to your bank account. Transfer of payments is done instantly. Stephana Kasriel tweeted while talking about the Novi wallet,
“There’s a new way to try the @Novi digital wallet. Starting today, a limited number of people in the US will be able to send and receive money using Novi on @WhatsApp, making sending money to family and friends as easy as sending a message”
The Turbulent Launch By Meta
WhatsApp launches crypto payment through the Novi pilot. It was initially available in Guatemala and the US, but according to WABetaInfo, the users in Guatemala will not be able to avail the new functionality of the WhatsApp payments. Instead, they will need to continue using the autonomous Novi application. Payments here do not affect the end-to-end encryption of WhatsApp, which is in position by default for all private conversations. The WhatsApp Novi pilot can be availed in both Spanish and English.
The latest pilot has its roots in Facebook’s which is now known as Meta’s much-hyped cryptocurrency schemes, which were officially declared in 2019. At that time, Facebook, which was a part of the Libra Association, thought to design and launch a digital currency known as Libra, which would be backed to a basket of low fluctuating assets rather than any one particular currency. This would combine with a digital wallet that will be developed by Facebook called Calibra. The complete system was created to provide a way to send money around the globe with lower fees than traditional ways.
These ideas have altered considerably since then. Libra has now become Diem, the Libra Association has lost various of its most high profile members and changed to Diem Association, and Calibra has changed to Novi. Perhaps most especially, Novi has finally ended up releasing without the Diem digital currency. Rather, Pax Dollars are the function of a separate entity known as Paxos, and Meta is depending on digital currency exchange Coinbase as its custody partner.
David Marcus who was Meta’s then head of Novi stated that the company is still dedicated to Diem when he declared the launch of the Novi pilot in the month of October. Marcus tweeted.
“We intend to launch Novi with Diem once it receives regulatory approval,”
David Marcus afterward said he was leaving the entity at the end of the year. He has called the steering of Novi in WhatsApp “the best farewell gift from the best team ever!”
Conclusion
After WhatsApp launches crypto payment in the US, the payment plans rotate around Novi and digital currency, elsewhere in the world it is already providing payments using traditional fiat currencies. The option got an extensive rollout in India last year as well and has also been released in Brazil. Now you may wonder is cryptocurrency legal in the US. In the US it is not yet regulated. Some parts have banned the use of crypto while others have neither permitted nor banned.
