The timing of this is not accidental and Facebook is not acting on its own accord here. This is a move by the Russian mafia/state to make it easier to evade the imminent cut-off from SWIFT and global financial networks.
Just because Russia is a mafia state doesn't mean they're behind Facebook's payments initiatives.
To make this sound a bit less like mad conspiratorial ravings, could you flesh out how Whatsapp would allow Russian banks, government agencies, companies and oligarchs to move large quantities of money if they're disconnected from SWIFT?
For example, how would Russia get around the fact that Whatsapp is only offering this in the United States? How would Russians get fiat currency in and out? How would Russians circumvent the very low transaction limits?
Oh, but this isn't for the Russian people! It's for the so called "oligarchs" and their families who - surprise - don't actually live in Russia! They like America and western Europe much better.
And if you don't realise that Russian government / KGB is VERY MUCH behind Facebook and its initiatives, I'm afraid you have quite a bit of catching up to do.
> And if you don't realise that Russian government / KGB is VERY MUCH behind Facebook and its initiatives, I'm afraid you have quite a bit of catching up to do.
Uh, I have to say, this is a new one for me. What's the theory here?
In real news, Russia (the gov, and affiliates) has made lots of popular fb groups/accounts/pages to attract american attention and spread misinformation.
There have been reports on everything from "Christians for trump" groups to "abortions are a human right" groups. These accounts were used to spread disagreement and angst across the population. they even pit groups they owned against each other IRL [1]...
No evidence that russians were part of facebook but rather that they took advantage of the anonymity of the internet to pretend to be american and cause political divide (esp. during election times).
> "oligarchs" and their families who - surprise - don't actually live in Russia!
How would Whatsapp's service with a $300 maximum transaction limit, that's only available in the US, allow them to evade a hypothetical disconnection of Russian banks from SWIFT?
Why imminent cut-off? I mean, maybe Putin decides to invade Ukraine and maybe Biden decides to push for the promised cut-off, but why would Meta help them, and how would Meta be exempted from said cut-off?
To make this sound a bit less like mad conspiratorial ravings, could you flesh out how Whatsapp would allow Russian banks, government agencies, companies and oligarchs to move large quantities of money if they're disconnected from SWIFT?
For example, how would Russia get around the fact that Whatsapp is only offering this in the United States? How would Russians get fiat currency in and out? How would Russians circumvent the very low transaction limits?