Shalini Nagarajan

Crypto hasn&#8217;t integrated into daily consumer practices&nbsp;— not yet, anyway.



David Marcus, CEO of bitcoin tech infrastructure firm Lightspark, believes it&#8217;s high time for that to evolve.



In a Spaces chat with a16z executives Sriram Krishnan and Eddy Lazzarin on Tuesday, Marcus stressed the importance of crafting solutions in the crypto industry that resonate with real-world challenges and for developers to genuinely comprehend the entire user journey.



“I feel like in crypto in general, I&#8217;ve seen many projects that are basically solving very complex technical challenges and very talented people working on them,” <a href="https://twitter.com/davidmarcus/status/1691585509846606310">he said</a>, adding that many of these solutions lack immediate relevance in the real world.



“For a normal consumer to actually use the thing, it would take a lot of suspending disbelief,” Marcus said.



For those innovating in the field, he thinks it’s crucial to assess whether their solutions truly address real-world challenges.&nbsp;



He urged builders in the space to consider two questions — whether the idea can shift consumer habits, or whether it can achieve broad adoption by unlocking opportunities constrained by current systems.



Marcus is a seasoned entrepreneur who founded mobile payments startup Zong, which caught the attention of <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/paypal">PayPal</a> and led to its acquisition. His rapid progression within PayPal set the stage for his getting recruited by Facebook, where he helped grow its user base to hundreds of millions. 



Building on this expertise, Marcus played a pivotal role in the inception of Libra (renamed Diem), a brainchild of Mark Zuckerberg. Diem aimed to democratize finance, enabling users on Facebook&#8217;s suite of apps, including Messenger and WhatsApp, to transact using crypto globally, which could then be converted to local currencies.



But Diem hit a roadblock when lawmakers questioned <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/meta">Meta</a>’s intentions and the extent of the platform’s influence over global social media.



During the Spaces discussion, Marcus also suggested that he is frustrated that financial technology hasn&#8217;t evolved much since the &#8217;60s and &#8217;70s.



While many fintech companies have improved the user interface, they&#8217;re still built on outdated systems.&nbsp;



Instead of just making these old systems look better, Marcus said he’s more interested in the global money system being upgraded to be more open, compatible and cost-effective.



To that end, the Lightspark executive said he’s on a mission.



“I made that decision… that this is a thing I&#8217;m going to actually succeed at or die trying,” he said.&nbsp;



“I’m not going to do anything else for the rest of my life until it&#8217;s done.”



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Ex-PayPal, Meta exec says it’s time for average Joe crypto

Ben Strack

A former executive at Gemini and Coinbase now seeks to help a crypto-as-a-service infrastructure platform expand operations into Europe.



Zero Hash has brought aboard <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/araba-e-1369a121/details/experience/">Araba Eshun</a> as its head of compliance in the UK and deputy lead of international compliance.&nbsp;



Founded in 2017, the company has secured money transmitter licenses to operate across 51 US jurisdictions, as well as two BitLicenses from New York’s Department of Financial Services. It has now applied for crypto asset registration with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).&nbsp;



Eshun led crypto exchange Gemini’s UK compliance efforts for the last two years, according to her LinkedIn page. Prior to that, she was a money laundering reporting officer for Coinbase, a senior compliance officer at payments platform Paysafe and chief compliance officer at UK-based crypto exchange Coinfloor.



Brazilian digital banking platform Nubank, which supports a handful of cryptocurrencies, appointed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmarcus/details/experience/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">David Marcus</a> as a member of its board of directors.



Marcus is the CEO and co-founder of Lightspark — a company building infrastructure for Bitcoin’s Lightning Network. He most recently spearheaded all payments and crypto efforts at Meta (formerly Facebook), including ill-fated stablecoin Diem. Marcus joined Meta in 2014 to lead Messenger.



The executive spent nearly four years as head of Novi, Meta’s digital wallet designed to help people send and hold Libra digital currencies. The company shut down Novi last year. Marcus was also a president at PayPal from 2012 to 2014.&nbsp;



The appointment comes after Brazil-based Nubank launched a crypto token last week for its 70 million customers in Brazil that rewards users’ engagement through a loyalty program. Nubank revealed it had reached 1 million customers trading cryptocurrencies in the country last July — a month after launching its crypto product.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Crypto firm taps three advisers to spur growth&nbsp;</h2>



Crypto-focused venture capital firm Electric Capital brought aboard <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/eladgil/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Elad Gil</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/akashdgarg/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Akash Garg</a>, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-rettig-8b90a284/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rebecca Rettig</a> as advisers.&nbsp;



Gil co-founded Color Health and Mixer Labs — acquired in 2009 by Twitter, where he subsequently worked as a vice president — and also started Google’s mobile team. He is set to work with Electric Capital founders on fundraising, product strategy and organizational growth.



Garg was most recently chief technology officer at web3 infrastructure company MoonPay after a short stint as vice president of engineering at Block. He also spent nearly three years as a director of engineering at Uber.



Rettig <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/robinhood-exec-jumps-to-crypto" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recently joined Polygon Labs</a> as its chief policy officer after leading Aave’s legal and policy efforts for nearly two years.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Electric has raised more than $1 billion in capital to invest in early-stage crypto companies and protocols with investment sizes ranging from $1 million to $50 million.&nbsp;



The company said in November <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/electric-capital-stayed-away-from-sbf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">it dodged a bullet when crypto exchange FTX collapsed</a> thanks to “yellow flags” it spotted about the firm during due diligence.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Marketing execs move around</h2>



Web3 investment firm CoinFund hired <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliemossler/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Julie Mossler</a> as its head of marketing and communications.&nbsp;



Founded in 2015, CoinFund has stakes in more than 90 web3 ventures in sectors including artificial intelligence, protocols, gaming and NFTs. A registered investment advisor, the firm specializes in both web3 and crypto-focused investments.&nbsp;



Mossler is set to “reimagine” the firm’s marketing and narrative strategy and support the go-to-market approaches of its portfolio companies.



She was most recently chief marketing officer at NFT ecosystem Metaplex and has also worked as interim CMO at fintech blockchain unicorn Paxos. Prior to her time in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry, Mossler held senior brand and growth roles for Waze and Groupon.



Web3 gaming company Immutable appointed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/devonferreira/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Devon Ferreira</a> as chief marketing officer.



He will be tasked with helping onboard thousands of game developers to Immutable — a company that says nearly $1 billion was invested in games on its platform last year.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Ferreira was formerly a marketing chief and brand builder for the Avalanche network, working at Ava Labs from July 2021 to December 2022. He was a director of marketing and strategy at The Walt Disney Company before moving to apparel company Oakley as its global head of digital.



&nbsp;Immutable also promoted senior vice president <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonsuen/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jason Suen</a> to chief commercial officer.



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Crypto Hiring: Former Meta Crypto Chief Snagged By NuBank

Macauley Peterson

<div id="highlights-block_61b238ca728fe" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Novi’s first pilot program, launched in October 2021, allowed payments between select US states and Guatemala</li>
 <li>The Novi wallet was originally called Calibra, under Facebook’s Libra stablecoin project, which Facebook rebranded Libra to Diem in December 2020, before rebranding itself to Meta in October 2021</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Select US users can now use WhatsApp to send payments in US dollar stablecoins, via a new pilot program from Novi, the digital wallet started by Facebook (<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/zuckerberg-says-facebooks-new-name-will-be-meta/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">now Meta</a>). 



Novi aims to bring affordable financial services to billions of unbanked people worldwide by allowing them to send and receive money across borders quickly and at low cost using mobile phones.



Vice President of Product at Novi, <a href="https://twitter.com/skasriel/status/1468722859648307201" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stephane Kasriel</a>, and Head of WhatsApp <a href="https://twitter.com/wcathcart/status/1468724981886427138?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Will Cathcart</a>, each announced on Dec. 8 on Twitter that the wallet was beginning to roll out on the popular messaging app, which Facebook <a href="https://money.cnn.com/2014/02/19/technology/social/facebook-whatsapp/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bought</a> in 2014 for $16 billion in cash and stock.



Unlike the first Novi pilot program <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/facebook-likes-coinbase-custody-for-digital-wallet-pilot-program/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">launched on Oct. 19</a>, which allowed payments between the US and Guatemala using a separate Novi app, the WhatsApp pilot is only within the US.



Both projects employ Coinbase custody services and enable payments to be made using the USDP stablecoin issued by <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/?s=paxos" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Paxos</a>. Chad Cascarilla, CEO of Paxos was one of six executives <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/crypto-industry-will-move-offshore-if-congress-doesnt-act-executives-warn/">testifyi</a><a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/crypto-industry-will-move-offshore-if-congress-doesnt-act-executives-warn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">n</a><a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/crypto-industry-will-move-offshore-if-congress-doesnt-act-executives-warn/">g before Congress yesterday</a>, and the company has made efforts to operate within the bounds of regulatory oversight, including by <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/paxos-gets-occ-approval-for-a-bank-charter/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">obtaining a banking charter</a> from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).



Absent from the new pilot is Meta’s own planned Diem stablecoin. Diem has been the target of <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/facebook-we-can-rebuild-the-broken-payments-system/">pronounced regulato</a><a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/facebook-we-can-rebuild-the-broken-payments-system/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">r</a><a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/facebook-we-can-rebuild-the-broken-payments-system/">y scrutiny</a> since Facebook first unveiled its predecessor Libra <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/26/18716326/facebook-libra-cryptocurrency-blockchain-irs-starbucks" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in 2019</a>. David Marcus, who headed Facebook’s financial services branch, was <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/16/facebooks-david-marcus-testifies-before-the-senate-on-libra.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">called to testify</a> to members of Congress shortly after the original project was unveiled, and it has faced an uphill battle ever since.



Marcus, who <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/facebook-parent-meta-reverses-crypto-ad-ban/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recently announced</a> his departure from Meta, <a href="https://twitter.com/davidmarcus/status/1468716985789796354?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">called</a> the new launch, “Another small step in the right direction,” and “The best farewell gift from the best team ever!”



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Another small step in the right direction. Today, we’re starting the rollout of the <a href="https://twitter.com/novi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@novi</a> wallet in <a href="https://twitter.com/WhatsApp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WhatsApp</a> in the 🇺🇸. On a personal level, this is the best farewell gift from the best team ever! <a href="https://t.co/6jk4NO60wv">pic.twitter.com/6jk4NO60wv</a>&mdash; David Marcus (@davidmarcus) <a href="https://twitter.com/davidmarcus/status/1468716985789796354?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



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Meta’s Novi Wallet Debuts Payments in WhatsApp

Sam Reynolds

<div id="highlights-block_61a8aa42c5ec3" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>As regulators provide more clarity on digital assets and licensure expands, Facebook once again is embracing this market</li>
 <li>Facebook&#8217;s Diem stablecoin project has stalled, but Meta is, as the name implies, going all in on the metaverse</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Meta announced Wednesday that Facebook has dramatically expanded its eligibility for digital assets advertising as the “cryptocurrency landscape has continued to mature”.



Cryptocurrency ads were virtually banned on the platform after January 2018 when the ICO bubble popped, leaving regulators scrambling and many retail investors underwater. Facebook did provide certain avenues for digital assets companies to run ads, but they needed to complete an extensive questionnaire that asked if they were publicly listed and what licenses they held — of which Facebook required one of three. Now that number has expanded to 27 as the market has “seen more government regulations that are setting clearer rules for their industry.” “Going forward, we will be moving away from using a variety of signals to confirm eligibility and instead requiring one of these 27 licenses,” Meta said <a href="https://www.facebook.com/business/news/expanding-eligibility-to-run-ads-about-cryptocurrency" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in a blog post</a>.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“This change will help make our policy more equitable and transparent and allow for a greater number of advertisers, including small businesses, to use our tools and grow their business.”</blockquote>



Cryptocurrency continues to be an evolving space, and we may refine these rules over time as the industry changes, Meta noted in a post. The company said that it will consider adding eligible licenses to the list as they become available and reviewed by their compliance team.



All this comes as Meta considers its next move in the digital assets space, seemingly abandoning cryptocurrency for the Metaverse — as its name change implies. The company formerly known as Facebook seems to have dramatically scaled back its plans to launch a supra national digital currency. Its effort, formerly known as Libra and now as Diem, has yet to be released to the public. Initially, the currency was pegged to a basket of digital assets, but that has since <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/facebook-led-digital-currency-pivots-to-us-dollar-stablecoin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shifted to a US-dollar backed stablecoin</a>. Thus far, only the <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/facebook-likes-coinbase-custody-for-digital-wallet-pilot-program/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">digital wallet</a> has been released.  



David Marcus, who spearheaded Libra project, <a href="https://twitter.com/davidmarcus/status/1465740041339092994" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced recently</a> that he plans to leave the company at the end of the year, perhaps signalling a change in tempo for the company’s cryptocurrency — though not digital assets — efforts.



“While there’s still so much to do right on the heels of launching Novi — and I remain as passionate as ever about the need for change in our payments and financial systems — my entrepreneurial DNA has been nudging me for too many mornings in a row to continue ignoring it,” Marcus <a href="https://twitter.com/davidmarcus/status/1465740042215645194" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>.



Meta’s stock closed the Wednesday trading day at $310, down 4% for the day.



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