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Facebook will scrap Messenger payments in the UK and France

Will it focus on a blockchain-powered "stablecoin" instead?

Facebook will discontinue peer-to-peer Messenger payments in France and the UK on June 15th, the company told Engadget. "After evaluating how we give people the best experiences in Messenger, we made the decision to focus our efforts on experiences that people find most useful," Facebook said, adding that active users will be notified ahead of the changes.

The news, first spotted and posted on Twitter by James Whatley, means that Facebook might shift to its own crypto-currency, a type of stablecoin, for money transfers. Reportedly in development for WhatsApp, the blockchain-based currency is tied to the US dollar and supposed to be more resistant to the extreme volatility that has rocked Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies.

The service, introduced in 2015, made it relatively easy to pay back friends for dinner via a credit or debit card. A couple of years later, the company added the option to use PayPal, as well. There's no indication yet that Facebook will discontinue money transfers on Messenger in other countries.