Facebook Whistleblower Holds Crypto to Support Herself Financially: Report

Frances Haugen said she was managing financially for the “foreseeable future” because she had bought crypto “at the right time.”

AccessTimeIconOct 25, 2021 at 2:17 a.m. UTC
Updated Oct 25, 2021 at 3:28 p.m. UTC
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Director
Digital Currency Initiative
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Neha will join CoinDesk's Michael Casey for "Remember Why We're Here: Crypto's True Purpose."

Sebastian Sinclair is a CoinDesk news reporter based in Australia.

Neha Narula
Director
Digital Currency Initiative
Neha will join CoinDesk's Michael Casey for "Remember Why We're Here: Crypto's True Purpose."
Neha Narula
Director
Digital Currency Initiative
Consensus 2023 Logo
Neha will join CoinDesk's Michael Casey for "Remember Why We're Here: Crypto's True Purpose."

Frances Haugen, the former Facebook product manager and whistleblower, reportedly practices the strategy of holding cryptocurrency.

In an interview with the New York Times published Saturday, Haugen said she was managing financially for the “foreseeable future” because she had bought crypto “at the right time.” The article didn’t specify what type of crypto Haugen purchased.

Haugen has also since moved to Puerto Rico to manage a health condition and to join “crypto friends,” according to The New York Times’ story.

In May, Haugen left Facebook, taking with her tens of thousands of documents that showed the company prioritized its growth over its users’ well-being. The documents exposed the social media giant’s awareness that information posted on Instagram could harm teenage mental health.

The documents also showed Facebook knew its products were spurring ethnic violence in places such as Ethiopia, and that it failed to combat misinformation on its platform relating to the Jan. 6 Washington. D.C., riot on Capitol Hill.

Pierre Omidyar, the eBay co-founder whose nonprofit groups started working with Haugen in October, was believed to be supporting the whistleblower financially. But Haugen told the Times the only help she is soliciting came via nonprofits for travel and related expenses, according to the reporting.


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Sebastian Sinclair is a CoinDesk news reporter based in Australia.


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