WhatsApp enables crypto feature for financial payments; pilot program under trial

Social media giant WhatsApp which is powered by Meta (formerly known as Facebook) has announced about launching a limited trial of testing a new feature that will allow the users to send and receive money using cryptocurrency. The new feature which will be supported by Novi, a recently launched digital wallet service by Meta through its digital payments pilot will use U.S. Pax Dollars (USPD) for facilitating transfers instantly in the United States. 

Confirming the same, Novi CEO Stephane Kasriel and WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart in a joint tweet said that the Novi digital wallet will be presently available to WhatsApp users in the United States on a trial basis. However, the number of people who can access the wallet has been kept limited for the time being. Later, it can be extended on the basis of people's experiences. 

Earlier, Novi was rolled out by Meta in 2020 stating that sending money will be easy as sending a message and the users can use it as a standalone app and also as a Messenger and WhatsApp. Apart from that, it also said that there were no hidden charges for adding sending and receiving, or withdrawing money and every transfer will be done instantly. 

Meanwhile, U.S Pax Dollar is a stablecoin, a cryptocurrency issued by the blockchain company named Paxos Trust of New York. This cryptocurrency does not witness many fluctuations in the market and one USPD equals 1 US Dollar. As per the new launch, the wallet users will need to add money to their Novi account through the app which will automatically convert their US dollars to Pax. 

How to send money through WhatsApp Crypto Payment wallet, Novi? 

The users who want to access the WhatsApp Novi feature will have to log in to the Novi account with WhatsApp or instead create an account directly through the app. Next, for payments, they need to select the Payment feature from the paperclip icon and proceed accordingly.

Notably, with no fees on the transaction, there is no limit on the number of payments that can be made. 

Image: Twitter/@StephaneKasriel