Facebook acquires its first blockchain startup

Facebook has acquired Chainspace, a smart contract development platform, according to Cheddar. This move was an acqui-hire in which four of the five researchers behind the Chainspace white paper will join Facebook's blockchain team. A Facebook spokesperson tells Cheddar that the company "had hired employees from Chainspace" but "isn’t acquiring any of Chainspace’s technology." 

As The Block previously reported, Facebook has recently been ramping up its blockchain-related hires. In May 2018, the social media giant announced that it had formed a blockchain team led by David Marcus, the former president of PayPal, and Kevin Weil, former product head at Twitter and Instagram. In December, Bloomberg reported that Facebook was in the process of developing a stablecoin for its Indian WhatsApp users.