Lightspark (company)
David Marcus | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 12, 1973 Paris, France |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, executive |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Known for | President of PayPal, Vice President of Messaging Products at Facebook, co-founder and CEO of Lightspark |
David Marcus (; born April 12, 1973) is an entrepreneur of French origin who later became an American citizen. He played a key role in the creation of Diem, a cryptocurrency initiative launched by Facebook. Marcus held the position of president at PayPal and was Vice President of Messaging Products at Facebook, where he directed the Facebook Messenger division from 2014 until 2018. In December 2017, he was appointed to the Coinbase Board of Directors, a role he relinquished in 2018. After his departure from Facebook in 2021, Marcus co-founded Lightspark, a startup specializing in cryptocurrency technologies centered on bitcoin and the Lightning Network, where he serves as CEO.
Early life and education
Born on April 12, 1973, in Paris, France, Marcus is the son of a Romanian father and an Iranian mother. His upbringing took place in Geneva, Switzerland, where he began programming in BASIC at the age of eight. He enrolled at the University of Geneva but left after one year to provide financial support for his family by working in banking and subsequently to pursue entrepreneurial ventures.
Career
At 23 years old in 1996, Marcus established GTN Telecom, an internet and telephony service provider based in Geneva, acting as both chairman and CEO until its acquisition by World Access in 2000. Following this, he founded Echovox, a company focused on monetizing mobile media content. In 2008, he introduced Zong, a subsidiary of Echovox that allowed users to make online payments charged to their mobile phone bills.
eBay's PayPal acquired Zong for $240 million in August 2011, after which Marcus joined PayPal as Vice President and General Manager of its Mobile Division. During his tenure, he spearheaded the launch of PayPal Here, a mobile card reader solution. By April 2012, Marcus was promoted to President of PayPal and managed the company’s $800 million acquisition of Braintree (Venmo’s parent company) in September 2013.
Marcus transitioned to Facebook in June 2014 as Vice President of Messaging Products, where he oversaw the growth of Facebook Messenger to reach one billion active users by July 2016. He rolled out Messenger’s peer-to-peer payment feature within the United States in June 2015 and later expanded payment functionalities for businesses on the platform.
Due to his expertise in digital payments and cryptocurrencies, Marcus joined the board of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in December 2017. By May 2018, he shifted focus to lead Facebook’s blockchain initiatives and resigned from Coinbase’s board by August to prevent conflicts of interest.
By early 2019, Marcus was leading a project aimed at developing a cryptocurrency tailored for WhatsApp users to enable seamless cross-border transactions. In June 2019, he unveiled Libra (which was later renamed Diem), a Facebook-backed digital currency governed by the Libra Association; Marcus also headed Calibra, Facebook’s dedicated subsidiary for this effort. Despite facing regulatory challenges and antitrust issues, he testified before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee assuring that Libra would not be launched without regulatory approval.
In May 2020, Calibra was rebranded as Novi, intended as Facebook’s digital wallet for cryptocurrency transactions. By August that year, Marcus took charge of Facebook Financial (F2), managing payment platforms including Facebook Pay and WhatsApp Pay. To address regulatory concerns, Libra was renamed Diem in December 2020; Marcus continues to serve on the Diem Association’s board.
Marcus announced his exit from Meta (formerly Facebook) in November 2021 with Stephane Kasriel succeeding him as head of Meta’s financial services division.
In May 2022, Marcus co-founded Lightspark with a mission to enhance bitcoin functionality through the Lightning Network technology. The startup attracted investment from firms such as a16z and Paradigm Operations. In October 2023, Lightspark publicly released the Money Address (UMA) standard under an open-source license.