Why can't they just use a good old database, to record transactions? It is a centralized system! I guess Facebook trusts itself!
2. A traditional centralized database doesn't allow offline transactions with any degree of trust. I don't know if this is a problem they are solving, but in principle, something with a blockchain-like architecture makes it possible to provide cryptographic proof that you have the money and intend to transfer it without any server round trip and still be secure against many kinds of attacks.
edit: I also trust PayPal, as I use it regularly, and it doesn't use a cryptocurrency. My point is that I don't understand why Facebook would need a Cryptocurrency to allow payments. As far as I know, WeChat doesn't use cryptocurrency and is probably the main payment system of China.
Let me try to explain. You trust your bank and PayPal and it's perfectly fine. But only to the point things are going ok in general.
In some, say, areas, the situation is possible when you see a message on the doors and ATMs of your previously trusted for decades banks: "Sorry, no check out today". And it can long for days or even months.
And your previously trusted online e-money processor can freeze your funds for whatever reason - "fraud suspect, suspicious activities, server offline".
It is hard to imagine for citizens of some countries, but in my opinion, this is only matter of time when it happens.
Cryptocurrency and blockchains in general are indeed highly inefficient databases and a tiny Postgres server outperform them all in Transactions Per Second, that's true.
But Postgres database running on a centralized service won't give you a feeling of independence and trust the biggest cryptocurrencies can provide (sure, they are volatile in price and you need to manage your private keys etc, but still).
But I really doubt that facebook is going to release a coin which they cannot control.
What is their case for creating a coin if they have no control over it?
And the case would be not to own the biggest stake and control everything, but instead having a popular cryptocurrency with APIs natively integrated with Facebook's services. It'll bring new users and developers to their platform, which has the real value.