According to a report by Cointelegraph, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee is pressuring social media giant Meta to disclose any blockchain or cryptocurrency-related projects, as the company has had five trademark applications related to cryptocurrency and blockchain pending since 2022.
Senior committee member Maxine Waters stated in a letter to Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and operations chief Javier Olivan on January 22 that these trademark applications filed on March 18, 2022 “appear to represent the company’s continued intent to expand its involvement in the digital asset ecosystem.”
Waters mentioned that despite Meta telling Democratic Financial Services Committee members on October 12, 2023 that “Meta is not engaged in digital asset work,” these applications indicate that Meta is indeed involved in digital asset work.
Reportedly, these trademark applications involve various services related to cryptocurrency and “blockchain asset” trading, exchange, payment, transfer, wallets, and related hardware and software infrastructure. A Notice of Allowance (NOA, a document explaining that an application meets registration requirements) has been sent to Meta for each application, and the company must submit a statement within 6 months to show its intention to use the trademark, or request a 6-month extension to submit the statement.
Meta must respond to the first NOA issued on August 15, 2023 by February 15. The latest NOA was issued on January 16, meaning the company must respond by July 16.
Waters inquired about how Meta plans to respond to the NOA, whether it intends to launch any Web3, cryptocurrency, or digital wallet projects, and if it will introduce a cryptocurrency payment platform. She also asked about Meta’s research on stablecoins or collaboration with stablecoin projects, whether it is considering adopting Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), and how its technology will enable cryptocurrency-related functions in the metaverse.