Meta has filed five trademark applications in the United States for its rebranded Meta Pay payment product. The trademarks indicate that the company may be looking to launch a series of crypto products, including a Web3 wallet and a cryptocurrency exchange.
Meta Pay Trademark Filings Indicate Pivot to Web3
Meta’s latest trademark filings indicate that the company is serious about Web3.
The social media giant has filed five trademark applications for its recently rebranded Meta Pay payment product for what appears to be a range of cryptocurrency-related services. The trademarks, filed May 13 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, are intended to protect the brand name “Meta Pay” recently acquired by Meta, and associated logos and symbols that relate to various cryptocurrency-related products and services, including a cryptocurrency wallet, exchange service, and social networking service online for investors.
Trademark filings also suggest that Meta Pay is looking to move into cryptocurrency lending, card and investment services. Notably, the requests follow a May 11 blog post in which Stéphane Kasriel, the company’s fintech manager, announced the rebranding of Facebook Pay to Meta Pay. “It’s no secret that we are very optimistic about Web3, both in terms of technologies and the principles it encompasses.“, he wrote, highlighting the company’s interest in crypto technology.
According to Kasriel, the company is looking to go beyond traditional payments and provide its users with a cross-platform, “single wallet“. He stated :
“We are in the early stages of exploring what a unique wallet experience might look like and we will have more information on this in the future. But to break down our initial thoughts, we consider: how to prove who you are and carry that identity across different Metaverse experiences; how to store the digital assets you own and take them with you wherever you go; and how to pay easily and with the payment method you want, whether it’s to a friend or buying from a business or creator.”
Last week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would begin testing NFTs on Instagram, with plans to add the same features to Facebook later. In April, it was reported that Meta was considering entering finance through small business lending and launching and supporting in-app virtual currencies, social tokens, and designer coins. Even though “Zuck Bucks” have yet to materialize, the company’s latest filings show a clear pivot to Metaverse and Web3.