Meta, Formerly Facebook, Files 8 Crypto Trade Applications

The batch of trademark apps is a strong signal that Meta is moving in the cryptocurrency and fintech direction.

On Wednesday, Washington D.C. trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis posted a tweet announcing the filing of eight different cryptocurrency-related trademark applications of Meta, the parent company of Facebook. The lawyer's Twitter message read:

"Meta Platforms has filed 8 trademark applications for its Logo. The applications cover:

• Crypto tokens
• Blockchain software
• Virtual currency exchanges
• Financial + Currency trading
• Digital, crypto, and virtual currencies

#NFTs #Metaverse #Cryptocurrency"

In a separate press release issued by Kondoudis he stated, "These filings reflect the company's strategy for moving into the metaverse. Meta clearly has significant plans for the virtual economy that will drive it. Meta's latest trademark filings will surely be of interest to participants in the financial sector and beyond."

A quick search of the U.S. Trademark Electronic Search System confirmed the filings occurred on March 18, and that Kondoudis was not the attorney of record for the applications. There was no response from Meta to an email request to comment on this development.

Meta has eyed crypto and blockchain for years

Last October, Facebook changed its corporate name to Meta as a more comprehensive umbrella brand that encompassed not only its former namesake social media platform but also several other acquired assets including Oculus virtual reality and WhatsApp. Earlier that same month, the company announced its collaboration with Coinbase in a pilot project to offer Facebook's own digital wallet -- called Novi -- to users in certain geographies.

That Novi project was a much smaller version of Facebook's attempted, and failed, crypto launch of its own Libra token in 2019 that was scrapped following robust rebuke from central banks and policymakers. The central banks complained -- perhaps rightly so -- that Libra would be adopted as a quasi-sovereign currency in poorer countries. Libra has since been completely rejiggered, renamed Diem, and removed from Facebook's direct oversight or management.

However, a handful of U.S. senators savagely attacked the Novi project, and wrote to Zuckerberg telling him to shut it down. "Given the scope of the scandals surrounding your company, we write to voice our strongest opposition to Facebook's revived effort to launch a cryptocurrency and digital wallet, now branded 'Diem' and 'Novi,' respectively," the senators' letter stated.

Since then, Meta's cryptocurrency efforts had seemed dead with the resignation of Novi wallet cofounder David Marcus in November 2021, and the company's decision in January of this year to sell its remaining stake in the Diem project completely.

However, this new trademark filing clearly resurrects those crypto aspirations.

What's next for Meta's crypto aspirations?

Based on Meta's trademark applications, the company may develop its own blockchain, its own crypto trading exchanges, and its own crypto token(s) and coin(s) -- coins such as Bitcoin run on their own blockchain, while tokens run on other blockchains. A well-known example of a token is Shiba Inu which currently operates on the Ethereum network. That's worth noting because it suggests Meta's vision is much broader than a closed, proprietary system.

However, Meta's renewed cryptocurrency vision will undoubtedly reignite rancor from politicos.

"Unfortunately, Facebook's decision to pursue a digital currency and payments network is just one more example of the company 'moving fast and breaking things' (and in too many cases, misleading Congress in order to do so). Facebook cannot be trusted to manage a payment system or digital currency when its existing ability to manage risks and keep consumers safe has proven wholly insufficient," as stated in the aforementioned senatorial letter sent to then-Facebook last October.

It'll be interesting to see how this cabal of senators reacts to Meta's trademark filings, and whether Meta's crypto future flies or dies as a result.