Walmart would be considering entering the cryptocurrency world, following the steps of Facebook and his Libra.
According to Bloomberg, in fact, the giant of the US retail sales has asked to patent a technique of using digital currencies, linked to traditional fiat coins, which could allow cheaper and faster transactions, as well as even greater security features.
In any case, even if the Patent and Trademark Office adopts a similar request, formally advanced on January 29th (but made known only on August 1st), Walmart however, it does not seem to be close to the launch of a coin similar to Libra, proposed by Facebook. Kory Lundberg, a company spokesman, merely indicated in an email that "we currently have no plans for this patent. "
In the application, the company stated that it wanted to patent a method to create a currency that could execute and record transactions on one blockchain, a digital register similar to that which feeds Bitcoin, superimposing information on transactions with the history of purchases made by customers, evidently for marketing purposes.
Walmart was the first company to use blockchain technology in its sector: at the moment the register is used to be able to trace products along its supply chain, but it is not excluded that - as other companies have done then - we can end up with using this technology also to be able to issue new digital tokens instead of loyalty points, or to use the same tokens to facilitate transactions, making them faster and less expensive than current payment systems.
It is clear that, in the United States as in the rest of the world, sellers have long started to look for ways to reduce the commissions applied by payment networks such as Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. The presentation of the plans earlier this year to create a digital currency to be used for the purchase of goods and services by users of its social network, however, it does not seem to have been positively received by the regulatory authorities, evidently worried by potential lack of privacy and on the possible negative effects on the financial system US.
