According to a memo sent on Wednesday, Facebook is set to launch its first digital wallet.

Facebook is primed to enter the digital wallet space with the launch of Novi. According to a memo sent by David Marcus, the wallet will be integrated into the Facebook app and is “ready to come to market.” Marcus is the same FB executive who pushed the company to move toward incorporating digital currency. 

The Novi wallet is being dubbed an interoperable digital wallet that will, according to Marcus, “enable people, and eventually small businesses, to move money around domestically and internationally in a quick and affordable way.” Marcus adds that nearly every state in the US has granted Novi secured licenses and/or regulatory approval. 

The Novi platform promises to offer free person-to-person payments both domestic and international for anyone using the Novi wallet. Facebook is banking on the desire for people to move toward cost-free payments that are “more convenient to ones that are significantly more expensive and not consumer-centric.” Marcus states that once the Novi platform has a significant user base, they will begin to offer cheaper merchant payments to global businesses and “still make a profit margin on merchant services.” The plan is then to branch out and offer various other financial services via partnerships with established entities in the sector. 

Marcus reveals that over the last couple of years, many people have asked why Facebook cares about building Novi with stablecoins in lieu of using fiat money. One of the arguments Marcus hears often is that Facebook has some “ominous plan” to make money and that FB couldn’t be doing this out of “the goodness of your hearts.” Marcus’ response to those questions is that “I can’t blame people for thinking this. But that claim comes from a place of misunderstanding the tech industry, and an ethos that most very successful tech companies have espoused.

”He goes on to say that they will first be focused on addressing the needs of people at scale and then set a path to sustain the work via monetization. Marcus views Facebook as an underdog in the industry and that offering free payments will help their break-in. 

As to why FB is utilizing stablecoins and not fiat, Marcus says that “strongly believe if there was ever a chance to create an open, interoperable protocol for money on the internet and truly change the game for people and businesses around the world, it is now.”

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