3 ms·

I'm curious about what Facebook/WhatsApp is doing in Guatemala, right next to El Salvador. They are integrating WhatsApp, the main messaging app, with a stable

I'm curious about what Facebook/WhatsApp is doing in Guatemala, right next to El Salvador. They are integrating WhatsApp, the main messaging app, with a stable coin Pax Dollars and Zero fee remittances between U.S. and Guatemala. The countries are next to each other and are similar in many ways. But one difference is that Guatemala, has their own stable local currency (Quetzal/GTQ), and the exchange rate margins charged by banks are the highest from any Central American Country. And also unofficial USD currency exchange can easily cost about 25% of the transaction. WhatsApp is so widespread in Central America that FB has a big potential of doing what El Salvador has attempted to do with Chivo/Bitcoin. This reminds me of the old stories of how Facebook choose which universities to allow sign up from. It was by choosing the universities close to others that had Facebook competitors.

davidgerard 5y ago
What they're doing is not actually using the USDP in any manner. The USDP sits in Novi's account in Coinbase Custody. The USDP in the Novi app is just accounting entries in their system. wrote this up here: https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/2021/11/02/facebooks-novi-hooks-up-in-guatemala-with-paxos-not-diem-just-in-time-for-the-stablecoin-report/ https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/2021/11/02/facebooks-no... I'd be amazed if the new Novi-in-WhatsApp thing didn't work the same way. It's the best possible way to use the blockchain: say "blockchain" in the press release, absolutely do not touch the thing with your system.
- el-salvador 5y ago
  Hi David! Thank you for sharing that link. I'm a reader of yours and never imagined you replying one of my comments. By the way thank you for the coverage in English you do about my country which summarizes many of the things that are happening here. And specially for reporting about the political context in which all of these is happening. As this is something not covered much by other news outlets. I was curious about Novi/WhatsApp because the potential it has for becoming a new widespread payment method due to the market share of WhatsApp in these countries. Not much about the underlying technology. So many transactions here involve sharing screenshots of bank payments confirmations or photos of bank deposit slips via WhatsApp messages. From small stuff to even loans, that Whatsapp could easily move from sending screenshots to sending payments by adding a "pay" button on their app. If they get the end user experience right, and regulatory approvals which is a bigger challenge by itself. I don't think the end users will think much about the underlying technology.
  - davidgerard 5y ago
    thank you! As literally just some guy with a news blog, I'm humbled by Salvadoran readers telling me that my coverage is useful to them. Obviously, I depend heavily on Salvadoran contacts telling me interesting things, and checking my stuff before it goes live - they checked this Foreign Policy article especially :-)

davidgerard 5y ago

What they're doing is not actually using the USDP in any manner. The USDP sits in Novi's account in Coinbase Custody. The USDP in the Novi app is just accounting entries in their system. wrote this up here: https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/2021/11/02/facebooks-novi-hooks-up-in-guatemala-with-paxos-not-diem-just-in-time-for-the-stablecoin-report/ https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/2021/11/02/facebooks-no... I'd be amazed if the new Novi-in-WhatsApp thing didn't work the same way. It's the best possible way to use the blockchain: say "blockchain" in the press release, absolutely do not touch the thing with your system.

el-salvador 5y ago
Hi David! Thank you for sharing that link. I'm a reader of yours and never imagined you replying one of my comments. By the way thank you for the coverage in English you do about my country which summarizes many of the things that are happening here. And specially for reporting about the political context in which all of these is happening. As this is something not covered much by other news outlets. I was curious about Novi/WhatsApp because the potential it has for becoming a new widespread payment method due to the market share of WhatsApp in these countries. Not much about the underlying technology. So many transactions here involve sharing screenshots of bank payments confirmations or photos of bank deposit slips via WhatsApp messages. From small stuff to even loans, that Whatsapp could easily move from sending screenshots to sending payments by adding a "pay" button on their app. If they get the end user experience right, and regulatory approvals which is a bigger challenge by itself. I don't think the end users will think much about the underlying technology.
- davidgerard 5y ago
  thank you! As literally just some guy with a news blog, I'm humbled by Salvadoran readers telling me that my coverage is useful to them. Obviously, I depend heavily on Salvadoran contacts telling me interesting things, and checking my stuff before it goes live - they checked this Foreign Policy article especially :-)