Facebook Reverses Crypto Ad Ban: Conditional Policy Shift

Social media giant decides to allow crypto-related ads on its platform once again, but with a few terms and conditions.

In a blog post titled ‘Updates to Our Prohibited Financial Products and Services Policy’, published on Tuesday this week, Facebook’s Product Management Director Rob Leathern wrote that the company has revisited and refined its policy.

“… we’ll be updating our policy to allow ads that promote cryptocurrency and related content from pre-approved advertisers. But we’ll continue to prohibit ads that promote binary options and initial coin offerings.”

“Given these restrictions, not everyone who wants to advertise will be able to do so. But we’ll listen to feedback, look at how well this policy works and continue to study this technology so that, if necessary, we can revise it over time.”

Bans on crypto-related advertising by other tech giants such as Google and Twitter, meanwhile, remain in effect.

Since the initial announcement of Facebook’s crypto ad ban, the crypto industry has felt the dearth of advertising options dearly, with companies clamoring for the limited inventory provided by crypto publications and related sites. Initial coin offerings are likely to have felt the blow the hardest, as limited advertising options make it considerably harder to attract contributors and investors.

While Facebook’s move was, and for now remains, a good thing in terms of protecting consumers from scams and fraudulent ICOs, it remains to be seen whether Facebook will allow any leniency for ICOs moving forward, perhaps when they are adequately regulated.