Instead of checking their banks to ensure their direct deposit went through, Facebook employees could open their cryptocurrency wallets on pay day as the social media giant will be rolling out its own digital currency soon.
A year ago, the plan for Facebook to roll out its own form of cryptocurrency was set in motion when the company appointed former PayPal executive David Marcus to begin exploring the opportunity. Since then, rumors swirled that Facebook was developing its own digital currency that would allow its users to store, trade, and exchange for regular currency via apps like Messenger and WhatsApp.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was already hinting that new ventures like cryptocurrency would help diversify the company’s revenue streams, which relies heavily on advertising.
“When I think about all the different ways that people interact privately, I think payments is one of the areas where we have an opportunity to make it a lot easier,” Zuckerberg said at Facebook’s F8 annual software developer conference in San Jose, California.
An ETF for Financial Technology
Though cryptocurrencies operate on a different plane, financial technology that focuses on payments is an area where investors can seek opportunities. One fund to look at is the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF)–an ETF that capitalizes on the burgeoning fintech industry.
ARKF invests in equity securities of companies that ARK believes are shifting financial services and economic transactions to technology infrastructure platforms, ultimately revolutionizing financial services by creating simplicity and accessibility while driving down costs.
“Powered by innovations within mobile, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technology, companies within fintech are working to disintermediate or bypass incumbent financial players and challenge traditional institutions by offering new solutions that are better, cheaper, faster, and more novel and secure,” stated ARK’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Catherine Wood.
“Fintech reimagines the generation, transfer, and storage of value in today’s increasingly digital economy, and its impact will extend across every industry. Through facilitating peer-to-peer transfers, gifting, intermediary products, and other non-GDP related economic activity, the companies in ARKF, in our view, will touch more than the $80 trillion in GDP today,” Wood added.
ARK has become a global investment manager, advising or sub-advising funds and separate accounts across four continents, including North America Asia, Australia, and Europe. The firm offers a range of investment vehicles including ETFs, institutional and retail separately managed accounts, US and international mutual funds, and a UCITS fund.
“Launching ARKF was a natural progression that builds on the success of our sub-advised fintech mutual fund with Nikko Asset Management in Japan, which received the Morningstar Fund of the Year 2017 Global Equity Award,” stated ARK’s Chief Operating Officer, Tom Staudt. “We believe all investors, both retail and institutional, should have access to investment opportunities in disruptive innovation and are excited that ARKF will fill a hole in US public equity markets for an actively managed, research-based fintech fund.”
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