As regular readers will know, I’m wary of Facebook applications. I’m especially wary of ones that require or (in the case of AceBucks) imitate real money. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense that Buddy Media, which owns the AceBucks app, has raised $1.5 million.
After all, World of Warcraft and Second Life have set a precedent for successful virtual currencies. And Michael M. Lazerow, Buddy Media’s CEO, is quick to distance himself from those that haven’t done so well. “AceBucks is not Beenz, Flooz or [insert your internet currency here],” he writes on the corporate blog.
AceBucks also isn’t a PayPal competitor or something that would challenge any official Facebook payment system, according to Lazerow. Instead, he plans to seek deals with such businesses.
Then there’s the whole Facebook-at-$15-billion thing to consider. If the social network is worth that much – stressing the word “if,” mind you – then pretty much anything connected to it is potentially quite valuable, as well.
Am I phoning up Lazerow with my savings account number? No. And given how small the balance in that account is, I’m sure he wouldn’t care either way. But AceBucks is at least an interesting application, and with a fresh $1.5 million behind it, it could become big.
Hat tip to Silicon Alley Insider’s Dan Frommer.
