Facebook has been in contact with US and British financial regulators with a view to launching its own cryptocurrency next year, the BBC reported on Friday.

“GlobalCoin” would work with a new digital payments system in about a dozen countries, starting in the first quarter of 2020, the broadcaster said on its website. The BBC said Facebook had already spoken to Bank of England governor Mark Carney and to officials at the US Treasury, and was expected to flesh out its plans this northern hemisphere summer.

Facebook´s currency would be “stablecoin”, a digital unit pegged to the dollar in contrast to more anarchic means of virtual payment such as bitcoin, according to earlier reporting by Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal among others.

With more than two billion users across its platforms, which include WhatsApp and Instagram, Facebook could have the clout to take a cryptocurrency mainstream and emulate the likes of WeChat in China, where the US site is banned.

WeChat allows its users to chat, shop and play games without leaving its platform, generating more revenue by offering a one-stop portal.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg has said that adding e-commerce is the logical evolution of the company´s advertising-based business model.