Twitter announced on Monday that it would ban all cryptocurrency ads from its platform beginning yesterday. In a move that had been expected for a fortnight, the company announced that it would remove all cryptocurrency ads “to ensure the safety of the Twitter community.”
THE ONSLAUGHT CONTINUES
This isn’t the first time cryptocurrency ads have been banned from major internet platforms, with the onslaught having begun as far back as January. Twitter joins social media giant Facebook and Google, the world’s largest online ad provider, both of which have banned cryptocurrency and ICO ads from their platforms.
Facebook was first in January when it announced that it had revised its advertising policy pertaining to initial coin offerings, binary options and cryptocurrencies. The revision effectively banned all ads that promote products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive practices. The announcement caused a massive drop in the price of most cryptocurrencies with Bitcoin shedding off 12% in a day.
Google was next, announcing the decision to ban all crypto-related ads earlier this month. The company revised its financial services-related ad policies to ban any ads related to ICOs, wallets, trading services and cryptocurrencies. The ban extended to YouTube, which is owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company.
Other major digital ad platforms that have banned crypto ads include Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent and Oath, Yahoo’s parent company. Microsoft’s Bing search engine is among the major ad platforms that still allow crypto ads.
Google, Facebook and now Twitter have promised to revisit and revise their policies over time as they find better ways to regulate the space and protect their users from fraud.
“This policy is intentionally broad while we work to better detect deceptive and misleading advertising practices. We will revisit this policy and how we enforce it as our signals improve,” Facebook’s ad tech director wrote in a blog post.
WILL THE BAN BE OF ANY SIGNIFICANCE?
According to estimates by market experts, Twitter is the ninth largest digital ads platform. Its popularity, especially with millennials who make up a large part of crypto enthusiasts, makes it a crucial channel for many crypto-related products and services to reach their target audience.
However, some crypto experts such as Brian Kelly, the founder and CEO of BKCM, are convinced that the news is not significant and that the crypto market will not be hurt.
“There is not a discernible catalyst on either side of the market so we are just drifting lower. The biggest potential short-term catalyst is increased trading in South Korea as that government re-embraces crypto,” he said.
The ban by Twitter has a few exceptions. The platform will allow crypto ads for wallets and crypto exchanges that are provided by publicly traded companies that are listed on major stock exchanges.
This comes at a time when the cryptocurrency industry is battling high volatility, with Bitcoin going below the $8,000 mark again on Tuesday. Calls for regulation in most parts of the world have caused the price of most cryptos to go down drastically over the last few days.
It remains to be seen what effect the announcement by Twitter, whose CEO, Jack Dorsey, is a great fan of cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, will have on the cryptocurrency industry.
