Taiwanese digital currency trading platform Maicoin has entered talks with social media giant Facebook regarding its possible membership in the Libra Association.
As local English language media outlet Taipei Times reported on Aug. 21, Maicoin is seeking to participate in the Switzerland-based Libra Association that works on the development of Facebook’s long-awaited stablecoin Libra. Specifically, the company is looking to operate a node on the blockchain-based network, which would validate and record transactions on the shared ledger.
Participation in Libra development
Maicoin CEO Alex Liu reportedly expressed confidence in the company’s chances for participating in the development of Libra, stating that:
“When we reached Facebook and discussed getting involved in the project, Facebook told us that it is looking for partners around the world that not only have high technical skills to protect the node, but also are confident of building a local user base of more than 20 million people.”
Liu also said that Maicoin will not have to get approval from local regulators to become a member of the Libra Association. However, should the company allow investors to trade Libra with New Taiwan dollars, it would need official authorization.
On the way to win global markets
Although Facebook has not yet released Libra, it is working on gaining a further share in the Asian market through affiliated projects. Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp is purportedly in preliminary talks with multiple digital payments firms and a state-owned bank to launch digital payment services in Indonesia.
Facebook also intends to integrate its crypto wallet service, Calibra, into WhatsApp and all of its platforms. Calibra would host Facebook’s planned stablecoin, Libra. However, Calibra will not be available in India, or any countries with a ban on cryptocurrency.
Analytical firm Statista estimated that there were 260 million Facebook users in India as of April this year — far ahead of the tech giant’s second-largest market, the United States.
