Facebook Credits

Over 150 developers used Facebook Credits in more than 650 Facebook games and applications, which represented over 70% of virtual goods purchased on Facebook. as well as Playdom, Playfish, RockYou, and 6waves. Zynga is the number one Facebook application developer and was expected to earn $500 million in 2010 from virtual goods. ==Obtaining Credits==

In addition to purchasing Credits within Facebook, there were a number of online and offline channels for earning or buying Facebook Credits. These included the following. • Gift cards — In the U.S., Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Radio Shack, GameStop, and Safeway sold Facebook credit gift cards in their stores. Facebook Credits gift cards were sold in Tesco and Game shops in the U.K. Facebook Credits gift cards were also sold in over 500,000 outlets in five Southeast Asian countries, India, Australia, and New Zealand. • Rixty let users get Facebook Credits by buying a prepaid Rixty giftcard with coins or cash at stores and then converting it to Facebook Credits. • shopkick allowed users to earn Facebook Credits by checking into stores with an iPhone or Android application. • ifeelgoods enabled online retailers to offer Facebook Credits as incentives for making purchases, signing up for e-mail newsletters, and other actions. • AppDog awarded users with an Apple or Android mobile device with free Facebook Credits in exchange for downloading apps. Downloaded apps can be free or paid. • (TrialPay) issued Facebook Credits as an incentive for users to sign up for advertiser services (i.e. sign-up for a Netflix account), complete market research surveys or interact with brand-sponsored videos/engagements. Users could access TrialPay on the Facebook platform through a variety of ways including in-game icons DealSpot or an 'Earn Credits' tab within the game environment. ==US Regulation of Facebook Credits and other Virtual Currencies==

In March 2013, FinCen announced new guidance relating to the regulation of virtual currencies such as Facebook Credits and bitcoin These regulations will have an impact of those who deal in virtual currencies and is seen as FinCen's first step towards regulating virtual currency (as opposed to Fiat money.) As regulation of such currencies expands, there is a possibility that individual U.S. Citizens may be required to report substantial holdings of these currencies on their tax returns. ==See also==