According to Ross Sandler who is an analyst at Barclays, FaceCoin, the stablecoin project being developed by Facebook could net the social media giant billions in revenue within the next few years. In a note, to investors, the analyst said that the digital currency had the potential to earn Facebook anywhere from $3 billion to $19 billion more revenue by 2021.

It’s a colossal figure and will occupy a significant share of the revenue when you consider the fact that Facebook made $40.6 billion in revenue in 2017 of which $39.9 billion was from advertising. However, before the tech company realizes the estimated income, it will have to prove successful in reinvigorating its micropayment strategy for digital content distribution according to Sandler.

The analyst also sees two main challenges Facebook will face if it’s to achieve its crypto goals; “demonstrating a value prop for users above what is available today in payments” and overcoming consumers’ “trust issues after 2018’s problems.”

Last week Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook issued a lengthy post in a bid to address some of the trust issues that users may have on the project. He called for Facebook to become more privacy oriented in the coming years. Even though he didn’t mention virtual currencies, payments and encryption were frequently discussed.

Also, Sandler noted that much details about FaceCoin are unknown; however, the cryptocurrency has a precedent on the social media platform in Facebook Credits.

He wrote:

“Facebook coin may simply be [looking] to process micro-transactions and re-invigorate the original business model that was in place in 2010-2012 under Facebook Credits. However, the scope of the project could be much larger, especially considering David Marcus (former CEO of PayPal) is heading up the project.”

What’s your take on the projected billions Facebook stands to earn in revenue from FaceCoin? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.