Before Cambridge Analytica came on the radar after improperly obtaining data of millions of Facebook users, the firm was reportedly working on a digital currency. Interestingly, the cryptocurrency was apparently going to be marketed as a way to help fun a system through where users could store and sell their online data. According to Reuters’ sources, Cambridge Analytica had consulted a company on how to structure an initial coin offering (ICO).
In a statement to Reuters, Cambridge Analytica spokesperson didn’t discuss anything about an ICO, but did say that “Prior to the Facebook controversy, we were developing a suite of technologies to help individuals reclaim their personal data from corporate entities and to have full transparency and control over how their personal data are used. We were exploring multiple options for people to manage and monetise their personal data, including blockchain technology.”
This might be passed off as something light, but a former Cambridge Analytica employee Brittany Kaiser told the New York Times, “Who knows more about the usage of personal data than Cambridge Analytica? So why not build a platform that reconstructs the way that works?”
It’s also worth mentioning that the firm was also reportedly involved in the creation of a digital token called the Dragon Coin. It was designed to help gamblers get their money into Macau casinos and has been linked to an infamous Macau gangster.
