What happened Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) stock got another boost Tuesday when Facebook Financial head David Marcus went on Twitter (of all places) to announce a new pilot project to permit money transfers via cryptocurrency on Facebook. By 1:30 p.m. EDT, Facebook stock was up 1.8% on the news, although it's subsided somewhat since. Image source: Getty Images. So what So what was it about Facebook's announcement that got investors excited? Marcus dubbed the company's pilot project "Novi," a Facebook subsidiary that describes itself as "a digital wallet changing the way money moves" and "a licensed money transmitter." We're doing a pilot to test core feature functions, and our operational capabilities in customer care and compliance. We're also hopeful this will demonstrate a new stablecoin use case (as a payments instrument) beyond how they are typically used today. 2/8 — David Marcus (@davidmarcus) https://twitter.com/davidmarcus/status/1450447440339877889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); Initially, Facebook will be activating the Novi digital wallet for operations in just two countries: the U.S. and Guatemala. (Guatemala seems to have been chosen as the counterparty because 90% of money transfers into Guatemala come from the U.S.) Between these two countries, says Marcus, "people can send and receive money instantly, securely, and with no fees," in cooperation with Coinbase and utilizing "a new stablecoin ... as a payments instrument" -- specifically the Pax Dollar (USDP) from Paxos. Now what Marcus also noted that Facebook's plan to launch its own virtual currency known as Diem (the virtual currency formerly known as Libra) "hasn't changed" and it intends to allow transfers of Diem currency via Novi as well "once [Diem] receives regulatory approval and goes live." Ultimately, Facebook says it hopes to steal business from credit card companies by offering "cheaper merchant payments," and "make a profit on merchant services" for itself. And this, in the final analysis, is why Facebook stock is going up today: Novi for now may be just a pilot project, but Facebook sees cryptocurrency payments over its platform as a new route to revenue growth -- and profits -- for the company. Investors today are betting that Facebook will find a way to make that happen. 10 stocks we like better than FacebookWhen our award-winning analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* They just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Facebook wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of September 17, 2021 Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Facebook. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source