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Social media mogul Facebook could be eyeing as much as $19 billion in additional revenue according to an internet analyst at Barclays. This could happen by 2021, should the company be able to successfully carry out its cryptocurrency project.

Discussing the matter in a note to clients on Monday, Ross Sandler, internet analyst at British multinational investment bank Barclays, outlined the reasons for which Facebook could be sitting on a potential gold mine.

Facebook Cryptocurrency In The Making: Huge Opportunity

As reported by My Bitcoin News earlier this year, the social media giant Facebook has definitively furthered its interest and involvement in the field of blockchain.

Reports have it that the company is working on its own cryptocurrency to enable payments on its WhatsApp messaging platform. The initial target is supposedly the remittance market in India.

Should the project turn out to be successful, this could bring to Facebook an additional revenue as much as $19 billion by 2021, according to the analyst. He also forecasted a conservative minimum of about $3 billion from a successful cryptocurrency implementation.

Speaking on the matter, he said:

Any attempt to build out revenue streams outside of advertising, especially those that don’t abuse user privacy are likely to be well-received by Facebook’s shareholders.

Quick Comparison

Sandler is basing his Facebook revenue estimates off of Google’s digital distribution service. Google Play, as it’s dubbed, is reportedly generating $6 in net revenue for every single user that takes advantage of it. According to the analyst, this could also be the case for Facebook throughout its massive 3 billion user base by 2021.

Additionally, the expert outlined that Facebook has long attempted to step in the market of payments. According to him it happened about a decade ago but back then the social media giant had to bear the interchange cost. This “negatively impacts the profitability of the business, especially when making high volumes of lower-value transactions.”

The substantially lower fees of cryptocurrency transactions, on the other hand, could mean that Facebook will, indeed, make an entrance into this field.

Do you think Facebook will launch its very own cryptocurrency? Share your thoughts down below!