Mark Zuckerberg's cryptocurrency plan is to use blockchain for his own ends

Facebook's step toward a blockchain product looks like more of a simple co-opting of the technology for a pretty humdrum payment system rather than any headlong rush to join the crypto-revolution.

The idea that a company as powerful and autocratic as Facebook Inc. would ever dive into cryptocurrencies has always seemed a bit like the Death Star deciding to throw a staff Christmas party.

Whether it’s the Bitcoin model itself (Wild West capitalism where nobody’s in charge) or the more corporate-friendly efforts to exploit the blockchain approach (distributed databases across networks within a business or industry) it’s been hard to see how a billionaire like Mark Zuckerberg might find a use for it. His entire business depends on centrally harvesting data to sell ads at a profit.

So it’s no surprise that Facebook’s