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Bitcoin Businesses Facebook Social Networks The Almighty Buck

Facebook's Cryptocurrency Could Be a $19 Billion Revenue Opportunity, Barclays Says (gizmodo.com) 65

Barclays internet analyst Ross Sandler says the new cryptocurrency that Facebook is working on could be part of a multibillion-dollar revenue opportunity. "Sandler forecasted as much as $19 billion in additional revenue by 2021 from 'Facebook Coin,'" reports CNBC. "Conservatively, the firm sees a base-case of an incremental $3 billion in revenue from a successful cryptocurrency implementation. 'Merely establishing this revenue stream starts to change the story for Facebook shares in our view,' Sandler said." From the report: Facebook is reportedly developing a cryptocurrency for global payments that will be tied to the value of traditional currencies and available to use through its messenger "WhatsApp," according to Bloomberg and The New York Times. Facebook has not publicly commented on the reports. Price volatility has been one major roadblock to bitcoin's widespread adoption as an everyday payment option. But Facebook's digital currency, a "stable coin," would likely be less attractive to speculators because of its fixed price tied to a currency like the U.S. dollar.

"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," Sandler said. Barclays based its Facebook revenue estimates off of Google's digital distribution service, which is also the official app store for Android's operating system. "Google Play," as it's called, generates $6 in "net" revenue per user now. Facebook could see a "similar cadence," across its nearly 3 billion users in 2021. A Facebook virtual currency would allow for more premium content to find its way back to Facebook, Sandler said, as companies re-establish themselves on the social network as a strategic partner.

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Facebook's Cryptocurrency Could Be a $19 Billion Revenue Opportunity, Barclays Says

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  • No way Google Play is making $6 net revenue per user.

  • by Arzaboa ( 2804779 ) on Tuesday March 12, 2019 @06:42PM (#58264658)

    What happens when you cross one of the largest companies on the planet and a new currency?

    As much as 'social media' changed the face of democracy in the last few years, this could have a much bigger impact. Just imagine if people in countries that do not have stable currencies had a choice. People may trust 'FBcoin' more than they ever trusted Bitcoin.

    With all of that being said, for a company that doesn't seem to respect anyone's privacy, this could be a real doozy.

    --
    The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking. - Albert Einstein

    • Rothschild said something to the effect "If I have control of a nations money, I don't care who controls its laws."

      One of the earliest separation of powers involved making the governors answer to the financiers. I'm not convinced this method was the best use of checks and balances, but it was an early inception of checks and balances against unbridled power.

      Powerful corporations issuing their own company store-like script is likely to become fractured and unwieldy, and destabilizing central banks' powerf

    • What happens when you cross one of the largest companies on the planet and a new currency?

      As much as 'social media' changed the face of democracy in the last few years, this could have a much bigger impact. Just imagine if people in countries that do not have stable currencies had a choice. People may trust 'FBcoin' more than they ever trusted Bitcoin.

      With all of that being said, for a company that doesn't seem to respect anyone's privacy, this could be a real doozy.

      --
      The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking. - Albert Einstein

      a) It's Whatsapp, not Facebook. It's a totally different brand.

  • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday March 12, 2019 @06:47PM (#58264678)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • This will likely end up being called FaceCoin, because two syllables is easy to say.

    There isn't yet a cryptocoin called this, but I expect one will be created in a day. Then Facebook will have to buy them out to get the name. Call it coin-squatting.

    • Re:FaceCoin (Score:5, Informative)

      by feedayeen ( 1322473 ) on Tuesday March 12, 2019 @06:53PM (#58264712)

      This will likely end up being called FaceCoin, because two syllables is easy to say.

      There isn't yet a cryptocoin called this, but I expect one will be created in a day. Then Facebook will have to buy them out to get the name. Call it coin-squatting.

      FaceCoin exists: https://coinmarketcap.com/curr... [coinmarketcap.com]

    • I'm going to make my new coin AssCoin it will be for when you need to pay but don't like the service you received.
    • Zuck Shekels = Zuckels.

    • How about Effsee?

      I am pretty sure this will be pretty huge, at least at first, because everyone will want to mine the crap out of these coins just in case it gets big. Also, the fact that they have a huge share of eyeballs already as well as a media cycle hungry for FB news ensures that the message will get out and spread quickly.

      As much as I dislike FB, I think this move is kind of brilliant. I could see them using the FB platform as the method by which coins are mined too, so the more you use FB, the more

  • Facebook + Cryptocurrency, yes, that is exactly what the world needs!

  • by codebonobo ( 2762819 ) on Tuesday March 12, 2019 @07:09PM (#58264788)
    A stable coin fixed to USD is simply fiat credits held by a custodial account which is a very old business practice. The additional revenue will come from fees and services people pay to facebook when they buy these credits or "gift cards". Many services like youtube already have tipping with fiat doing this so there is nothing unique except them using the term "crytocurrency" as a marketing gimmick.
  • ...cryptocurrency mines YOU!
  • Where are the dollars coming from? Who the fuck is giving Facebook.. what did it say? $19 billion? Over 2 years.

    WHERE IS IT COMING FROM? Who is stupid enough to be giving Facebook money for anything, ESPECIALLY crypto currency. Someone getting scammed hard.

  • This is Facebook making a Payment Network. I use Paypal because it works seamlessly with ebay. I use credit cards for cashback rewards and protection from unauthorized charges.

    What's in it for me, the consumer? Why should I jump ship to a company I already don't like/trust and which has little or no regulations to protect me when I've got Paypal regulated under banking law (mostly, I don't use it for anything but ebay because of that) and my CC regulated up the wazoo?
  • Oh boy- a bitcoin-type currency from Facebook, WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG??

    Nothing, nothing could possibly go wrong! Invest now why there's still time for it to disappear and take your (real) money with it!

  • One of the major points in Cryptocurrency is that NO single entity owns or controls it. We are tired of banks controlling what we spend, how we spend, an knowing everything about us. Facebook making a Cryptocurrency is NOT what we want. It is just giving them control like a bank the very thing we are getting away from.
  • Facebook is literally going to be printing its own money, virtual money at least. Sure, we're all familiar with similar schemes like arcade tokens. Corporations create walled gardens where only their currency is accepted. We can even look back in the not-too-distant past before it was commonplace for The Federal Reserve Bank or the Federal Government to be the de facto legitimate currency of the nation. The Federal Government backed the value of its money by gold - the Federal Reserve bank is a fiat currenc

In the long run, every program becomes rococco, and then rubble. -- Alan Perlis

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