WhatsApp users in the US can now send and receive money using crypto coins
The heads of WhatsApp and Novi just announced this Thursday that the messenger app is now testing with "a limited number of people in the US" a new option to send and receive money straight from the chat window. The new feature uses Meta's Novi digital wallet, which surprisingly doesn't use Meta's cryptocurrency Diem (aka Libra), but the USDP crypto coin.
TL;DR
- WhatsApp users in the US are getting a new feature to send and receive money.
- The new feature uses a digital wallet from Meta (formerly Facebook), but not its cryptocurrency.
- Similar features are available in India and Brazil.
The money transfer feature can be used from the Attachment shortcut (the paperclip icon also used for sending pictures), using the new menu option Payment. New users will need to tap on Create Account and follow on-screen instructions, filling in information like a phone number and a government-issued ID number.
Then, it is just a matter of entering the amount to send, tapping Next, and then Send Money, with the option to add a description.
The feature doesn't use Meta's cryptocurrency — Diem, formerly known as Libra — but the stable coin USDP, whose value is pegged to the US dollar, just as a quick recap for the many renamed companies in this news:
- Facebook is now Meta.
- Libra is now Diem (crypto coin).
- Pax is now USDP (crypto coin).
- Calibri is now Novi (digital wallet).
According to Will Cathcart, WhatsApp's Head, there is no fee to use the feature. And Novi's support pages note that, to receive the money, users need to sign up for a Novi account as well. Unfortunately, there is no timeline to make the feature available for all WhatsApp users.
Source: Novi
