Amid concerns over fraud, Twitter has said it will be banning cryptocurrency advertising like Google and Facebook have.
The social media company will launch a new policy, which will prohibit the advertising of token sales or initial coin offerings (ICOs) and crypto wallet services.
Twitter had faced criticism for hosting crypto ads on its platform, at a time when regulators around the world voiced concern over cryptocurrency-related scams and risks. Earlier, Twitter had suspended some users for soliciting crypto – in an effort to crack down on scammers’ ability to use the platform
“We are committed to ensuring the safety of the Twitter community. As such, we have added a new policy for Twitter Ads relating to cryptocurrency. Under this new policy, the advertisement of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and token sales will be prohibited globally, ” a Twitter spokesperson said: “We will continue to iterate and improve upon this policy as the industry evolves,” Twitter said.
Regulators all over the world have also taken note of the risks in ICOs, or digital coins released through fundraisers known as token sales.
Google and Facebook were first to make the move, seeing Google update its financial services policy earlier in March that will restrict advertising for cryptocurrencies and related content starting in June. In January, Facebook said it would ban all ads that promote cryptocurrencies to prevent the spread of “financial products and services frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices.”
However, BKCM founder and CEO Brian Kelly said that the Twitter news was a non-event for cryptocurrency markets.
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“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,” Kelly said.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has intensified efforts to police the fundraising process. The Chinese government banned ICOs in 2017.
