Facebook, Inc. (FB) Quietly Launches a Blockchain Project
The head of Facebook, Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) Messenger, David Marcus, announced on Tuesday that he will be transitioning to a new blockchain project that could potentially have major implications for Facebook investors. Details on the blockchain project are slim at this point, but some investors are speculating that Facebook could make a big push into the payments business.
Marcus announced his transition in a post on his personal Facebook page.
"I'm setting up a small group to explore how to best leverage blockchain across Facebook, starting from scratch," Marcus wrote.
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Marcus joined the board of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in December.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hinted at his interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in his 2018 Facebook mission statement in January. Zuckerberg said he was particularly interested in how the decentralized nature of the blockchain structure could help empower Facebook users.
"I'm interested to go deeper and study the positive and negative effect of these technologies and how best to use them in our services," Zuckerberg wrote.
Some analysts have speculated that Facebook could be exploring the creation of its own cryptocurrency and/or digital payment technology. In China, Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group Holding ( BABA) have captured a dominant share of the digital wallet market by integrating their own payment services into their popular messaging apps.
Facebook could potentially take a similar route and attempt to become a go-to payment option for its 2 billion users. Marcus' previous position as president of Paypal Holdings ( PYPL) makes him uniquely qualified when it comes to digital payment expertise.
Facebook could also potentially be exploring security applications of blockchain technology in the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.
It's unlikely that Facebook's blockchain project will have any major impact on the company's financials in the near future. But Bank of America analyst Justin Post says investors who believe Facebook has a major long-term opportunity in the payments business can feel good about buying Facebook stock at its current price.
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"Driven by user growth, new product offerings, and new ad formats, we expect Facebook to gain share in advertising markets and grow close to 30 percent over the next two years, which warrants a premium [price-earnings] valuation and in-line [price-earnings-to-growth] valuation versus its Internet peers," Post says.
Bank of America has a "buy" rating and $215 price target for FB stock.
Wayne Duggan is a freelance investment strategy reporter with a focus on energy and emerging market stocks. He has a degree in brain and cognitive sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and specializes in the psychological challenges of investing. He is a senior financial market reporter for Benzinga and has contributed financial market analysis to Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha and InvestorPlace. He is also the author of the book "Beating Wall Street With Common Sense," which focuses on the practical strategies he has used to outperform the stock market. You can follow him on Twitter @DugganSense, check out his latest content at tradingcommonsense.com or email him at wpd@tradingcommonsense.com.
