Google Bans Cryptocurrency Ads, Cryptos Dip

The cryptocurrency woes continue: late Tuesday evening (March 13), Google’s parent company Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) issued a company statement advising that it will be banning any cryptocurrency-related advertising.

Scott Spencer, director of sustainable ads, issued Tuesday’s blog post, stating that Google has updated its policies to address advertisements in “unregulated or speculative financial products.” In terms of cryptocurrency-related content, the advertising ban includes everything from initial coin offerings (ICOs), cryptocurrency exchanges, cryptocurrency wallets, and cryptocurrency trading advice.

“[Those ads] will no longer be allowed to serve,” the document read, stating that the restrictions will officially be effective as of June 2018.

Joe McCann, founder and CEO of NodeSource said in an email statement the Google’s crypto ban only further validates this new asset class.

“Governments and now media outlets are attempting to “protect” the public from this burgeoning asset class when in reality, the global populous is moving forward without them,” McCann said. “With moves by startup unicorn Coinbase into areas like custody (custody.coinbase.com) and many institutional investors vying for access to the cryptoassets market, stopping the flow of information via advertising is analogous to putting a band-aid on a crack in a dam.”

That said, Google isn’t the first platform to ban cryptocurrency advertising. Back in January, social media giant Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) issued a similar statement, advising that the company had created a new policy prohibiting ads that promote financial products and services “frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, such as binary options, initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency.”

“We want people to continue to discover and learn about new products and services through Facebook ads without fear of scams or deception,” the Facebook statement read. “That said, there are many companies who are advertising binary options, ICOs and cryptocurrencies that are not currently operating in good faith.”

Unlike Facebook, Google didn’t explain why it’s banning cryptocurrency advertising, although it does come just under a week after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a statement warning of “potentially unlawful online platforms for trading digital assets.”

“If a platform offers trading of digital assets that are securities and operates as an “exchange,” as defined by the federal securities laws, then the platform must register with the SEC as a national securities exchange or be exempt from registration,” the SEC statement read.

Following Google’s announcement on Tuesday, top cryptocurrencies have taken a slight hit: according to data from Coinmarketcap.com, over the last 24 hours and as of 2:43 p.m. EST on Wednesday (March 14), Bitcoin has dropped 8.92 percent to $8,357.29, Ethereum has taken a 9.94 percent hit to $621.38, Ripple has decreased by 9.09 percent to $0.71, Bitcoin Cash has dipped 9.91 percent to $963.78, and Litecoin has lost 6.96 percent to $163.31.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Jocelyn Aspa, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.