WhatsApp has taken a step closer towards being an all-encompassing platform for ecommerce with the recent announcement that it is rolling out crypto payment functionality in the US.
This is a system that WhatsApp (which is owned by Meta) initially rolled out in the “smaller”, but crucially mobile-focused markets of India and Brazil in 2020 and earlier this year respectively.
For now there is no word on whether a wider global rollout is on the cards, but it is a significant step nonetheless, given how mature the crypto payments market in the US is compared to other parts of the globe.
Assisting with the execution of the payment solution is digital wallet service, Novi (formally launched as Calibra), along with Pax Dollars being the stablecoin through which transactions are made.
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. 💸💬 pic.twitter.com/dGz3lejri7
— Stephane Kasriel (@skasriel) December 8, 2021
“We’re offering people another way to access the Novi pilot by making it available on WhatsApp. Starting today, a limited number of people in the US will be able to use Novi to send and receive money right within their WhatsApp chat,” explained the digital wallet outfit in an updated blog post.
“Using Novi doesn’t change the privacy of your WhatsApp personal messages and calls, which are always end-to-end encrypted,” it added.
As The Verge points out, this latest move will also have potential implications for Meta’s plans with Libra, which has since been renamed Diem.
Should crypto payments via WhatsApp prove more palatable to regulators in the US and other parts of the world, it could be the jumping off point for Diem, which too is supported by Novi.
“We see great value in the way Diem is designed with robust protections for consumers and controls to combat financial crime. We intend to migrate Novi to the Diem network once it receives regulatory approval,” adds the aforementioned blog post.
It will be interesting to see if regulators are indeed of the same opinion, especially as Novi and Diem faced staunch opposition in their previous guises.
