For Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook, the embryonic Libra cryptocurrency might be the digital equivalent of the sorcerer’s stone, the legendary material alchemists believed could prolong life and turn lead into gold. It would give the social media giant a new and sought-after capability in parts of the world where the company is growing rapidly but some 1.7 billion people lack access to banks, depriving them of the ability to buy goods online.

Ensuring that its platforms, such as Messenger and the encrypted WhatsApp, have payment services would also prevent potential loss of customers to rivals and open new ad revenue streams, noted Bank of America analyst Justin Post. “Digital payments will amount to $4.1 trillion in 2019 and will grow to $6 trillion in 2022, a large market for Facebook to tap into,” he noted.