Facebook Is Developing a Cryptocurrency for WhatsApp Transfers, Sources Say

If this allows Facebook to monetize WhatsApp without introducing ads and the privacy corrosion they would bring, then this would be a very good development.

It's a centralized stable coin built by Facebook, so it's basically PayPal?

Exactly. There is virtually a zero-chance that Facebook (or any other company) will develop and release something they have no control over.

Super skeptical about this story. Why should they bother instead of just using regular banking or keeping their own ledger.

Pretty interesting, Facebook generally does not have a reputation for 'jumping on the bandwagon' so I assume they have thought this through. Many of their whatsapp users live in very poor areas that are not traditionally served by banks. If they integrate a wallet into the app it may allow for a real use case. They would still need to provide some sort of 'convert to fiat' functionality for those same unbanked users though. Could very well result in them creating their own economic ecosystem in third world / emerging markets. Effectively locks in a new customer base and revenue stream.