Meta has filed 5 applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the name “Meta Pay”, implying payments in cryptocurrencies. With the abandonment of the Diem project, formerly Libra, this announcement has a taste of déjà vu.
Meta applies to trademark the name “Meta Pay “
On March 13, Meta sent five filings to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to acquire the name “Meta Pay”:
Meta Platforms Inc (i.e. Facebook) has filed 5 new trademark applications for:
“META PAY”
The filings indicate that @Meta plans to launch a payment platform called “META PAY” for users to exchange old-fashioned regular money and cryptocurrencies. Meta $FBMetaverse pic.twitter.com/W2ObxgAWfl
– Josh Gerben (@JoshGerben) May 18, 2022
By analysing the details provided, a comparison can be made between this future service and the trade in non-fungible tokens (NTF) on the Meta metaverse to come. Indeed, one will find, for example, the following explicit mention:
” Service of the European Union
“Online social networking service for investors enabling financial transactions and exchange […] of cryptocurrency. “
This move is therefore a continuation of the one made last December, when the company bought the domain name “metapay.com”, from a South Dakota bank, for $60 million.
It’s like déjà vu
Meta’s experiment in cryptocurrency payments is reminiscent of the failed Libra, renamed Diem and eventually sold to Silvergate. While this time, the creation of a fully-fledged blockchain is not explicitly announced, the trademark registration of “Meta Pay” with the serial number 97409239 makes us understand that the company’s vision is not limited to a mere virtual world.
Three points lead to this conclusion:
- Providing software for the management and validation of digital currency transactions;
- Providing software for the creation of a decentralised, open source cryptocurrency for use in blockchain-based transactions;
- Provision of software for the creation and management of smart contracts.
Application 97409235 refers to “money lending”. All these elements put together suggest detailed plans for the blockchain universe, of which the metaverse could be only one facet. According to the information provided, Know Your Custumer (KYC) verification will also be required.
It should be remembered, however, that Meta still has a long way to go, both in terms of dealing with regulators and in terms of democratisation among the general public. The company recently made headlines by announcing a 47.5% commission on NFT sales in its metaverse, which should not help to convince the Web 3.0 community.
