Meta has drawn up plans to introduce virtual coins, tokens and lending services to its apps, as Facebook’s project to launch a cryptocurrency.

Facebook’s financial arm, Meta Financial Technologies, has been exploring the creation of a virtual currency for the metaverse, which employees internally have dubbed “Zuck Bucks”, according to several people familiar with the efforts

Creating cryptocurrencies has traditionally been the domain of governments, though private companies have dabbled in creating their own exclusive currencies in the past. The most horrendous example from the 19th century was known as company scrip, a kind of privately issued money paid to employees that could only be redeemed at company-owned stores, often in company-owned towns.