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CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday said that Facebook‘s reported plans for a cryptocurrency is a reason for investors to get behind the social media giant’s stock.
The coin launch, if it were to happen as expected in the near future, would lead Facebook’s stock to “take out its high,” Cramer said on “Squawk on the Street. “
Shares of Facebook were about 3% higher on Monday, trading around $187 each. The stock would have to jump more than 16% to eclipse its all-time high of more than $218 in late-July 2018.
“This is going to be the biggest thing that’s happened to Facebook in years,” Cramer said. “It will be vital.”
It all started about a year ago when Facebook appointed former PayPal executive David Marcus to begin exploring options with blockchain.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Uber, PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard have signed up to support Facebook’s crypto effort known internally as Project Libra.
Cramer, host of “Mad Money, ” is in good company thinking a Facebook digital coin will be huge.
In a recent note, RBC Capital Markets analysts Mark Mahaney and Zachary Schwartzman wrote that they believe “this may prove to be one of the most important initiatives in the history of the company to unlock new engagement and revenue streams.”
Recent reports that Facebook will unveil its cryptocurrency as early as this month have also boosted the price of bitcoin. The world’s biggest digital coin jumped across the $9,000 level on Sunday, on the thought that Facebook getting into crypto would add legitimacy to the industry.
However, bitcoin is still worth less than half of its all-time highs near $20,000 in December 2017.
