Twitter to start banning cryptocurrency ads

After a long series of rumors, Twitter follows Facebook and Google’s example and announced that they will start banning cryptocurrency ads this Tuesday.

According to CoinTelegraph, Twitter is planning to ban ads for Initial Coin Offerings, as well as token sales.

Just one month for the ban to take full effect

The new policy will be introduced over the course of the next months and it’s also expected to include bans on both cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet services. Exceptions are public companies and those listed on major stock exchanges.

The social network revealed that advertisments for crypto exchanges in Japan will be limite to those under the purview of the national financial regulator.

One of the main reasons behind Twitter’s decision to ban ads is its users’ safety. However, they started taking measures in this direction for a few months now, preventing crypto-related accounts from “engaging with others in a deceptive manner”. However, it faced several calls to enact futures measures, after the bans from Facebook and Google.

Obviously, this announcement had a big impact on crypto markets. These went through a slip on Monday, but Twitter’s ban made some of the most important coins – and not only – fell even further.

There’s more than just being able to protect users…

In an interview for Reuters, financial consultancy company Kapronasia director Zennon Kapron talked about the risks Twitter is exposed to, claiming that this is one of the many reasons behind the ban.

“With the increasing number of ICOs coming to market, it is an impossible task for anyone, much less platforms like Twitter or Facebook, to keep on top of which ICOs and cryptocurrencies are genuine versus frauds… Although certainly ICO advertising must have been a significant source of revenue for Twitter, the repercussions of fraudulent activities just weren’t worth the risk,” Kapron said.

Back in January, Facebook started the ‘trend’, by restricting cryptocurrency advertising. Shortly after, Google made a similar announcement, revealing that the ban will be enacted in June 2018.