Meta must answer over crypto plans

Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters on Monday sent a concerned letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Javier Olivan. She demands answers from the company about what is planned with five trademark applications related to digital assets.

Her initiative is initially surprising because the applications date back to last year. However, the 85-year-old California politician has long been a critic of big tech and has been a major opponent of Meta's efforts in the crypto market in the past.

Meta's five proposals cover projects such as an online network service that enables the exchange of digital currency, the development of blockchain-related software and cryptocurrency trading. Waters asked questions about the planned projects and wants to know if Meta plans to launch a payment platform that supports cryptocurrencies. The congressman did not specify a time frame for a response.

Zuckerberg's new crypto plans experts seem unlikely. The Libra stablecoin After all, the 2019 plan was already wiped out by regulators, and later the Diem project, which was smaller at the time anyway, was also discontinued.

Even trademark or patent approval would not mean actual implementation by Meta. It could be an indirect message to Meta and big tech in general: "Watch what you're doing, because we have an eye on you."