Meta has been sitting on crypto patents for years without putting them to use
The US House Financial Services Committee is attempting to force Meta to reveal its plans regarding blockchain or crypto-related endeavors. The company currently has five cryptocurrency and blockchain-related trademark applications active from 2022.
Ranking committee member Maxine Waters sent a letter to Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and chief operating officer Javier Olivan on January 22, stating that the trademark applications filed on March 18, 2022, “appear to represent a continued intention to expand the company’s involvement in the digital assets ecosystem.”
Waters also expressed the applications indicate that Meta is working on digital assets despite the company suggesting to Democratic Financial Services Committee staff on October 12, 2023, “that there is no ongoing digital assets work at Meta.”
Meta scrapped plans for its crypto payments stablecoin Diem (formerly Libra) in 2019 under pressure from US legislators, later selling Diem to now-defunct Silvergate Bank for $200 million in January 2022.
Meta’s trademark filings suggest several crypto services and “blockchain assets” trading, wallets, transfers, exchange, payments and the related software and hardware infrastructure.
A Notice of Allowance (NOA), a document from the US Patent and Trademark Office saying the application meets registration conditions, has been sent to Meta for each trademark application filing. The company will have six months to either file a statement that it plans to use the trademark or ask for a six-month extension to submit the statement.
Meta has until February 15 to reply to the first NOA sent on August 15, 2023. The last NOA was sent on January 16, meaning it must respond by July 16.
Waters questioned Meta about how it will reply to the NOAs, if it’s planning any Web3, crypto, or digital wallet projects, and if it’s seeking a crypto payments platform.
