The US House Financial Services Committee is pressuring Meta, formerly known as Facebook, to disclose any plans it may have related to blockchain and cryptocurrencies. The committee is concerned because Meta still has five active trademark applications for cryptocurrency and blockchain-related services from 2022.
Maxine Waters, the ranking member of the committee, has sent a letter to Meta’s founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, and operating chief, Javier Olivan, expressing her concerns. She pointed out that the trademark applications, filed on March 18, 2022, indicate Meta’s intention to expand its involvement in the digital assets ecosystem, despite the company’s previous claim that it had no ongoing digital assets work.
Meta had previously abandoned its plans for a cryptocurrency stablecoin called Diem, formerly known as Libra, in 2019 due to pressure from lawmakers. It sold Diem to Silvergate Bank for $200 million in 2022. Additionally, Meta’s plan to release a digital wallet called Novi, formerly known as Calibra, by 2020 also failed to materialize.
The trademark filings indicate Meta’s interest in various crypto and blockchain services such as trading, exchange, payments, transfers, wallets, and associated hardware and software infrastructure.
Meta has received a Notice of Allowance (NOA) for each trademark filing, which means they meet the registration requirements. Meta must respond to each NOA within six months by either stating that they will use the trademark or requesting a six-month extension.
Waters has asked Meta how they plan to respond to the NOAs and if they have any plans for Web3, cryptocurrencies, or digital wallet projects. She also inquired about Meta’s research into stablecoins, partnerships with stablecoin projects, adoption of distributed ledger technology (DLT), and how their technology might enable crypto-related functionalities in the metaverse.
Meta has not yet responded to these queries.
In summary, Meta is facing pressure from the US House Financial Services Committee to reveal its plans regarding blockchain and cryptocurrencies due to five active trademark applications. The committee’s concerns stem from Meta’s previous claims of having no ongoing digital assets work. Meta has until the specified deadlines to respond to the Notice of Allowance for each trademark filing.
