Social media giant, Facebook, has posted an update to its financial services and products advertising policies. It is reversing the rule that it imposed in 2018 that required prior written approval for any paid advertising which related to cryptocurrencies.
Interestingly, this comes at a time when Facebook themselves are interested in creating their own cryptocurrency. They even met recently with venture capitalist and founder of Draper Associates, Tim Draper, to discuss their interest in creating their own cryptocurrency, Facebook Coin. The company are also working on their own blockchain product with the aim of integrating Whatsapp, Messenger, and Instagram into one umbrella system.
The post says that they have listened to feedback and assessed the policy’s effectiveness. “While we will still require people to apply to run ads promoting cryptocurrency, starting today, we will narrow this policy to no longer require pre-approval for ads related to blockchain technology, industry news, education or events related to cryptocurrency”.
Some Cryptocurrency Advertisers Will Still Have To Go Through A Review Process
Commenting on its Prohibited Financial Products and Services policy, that asserts advertising must “not promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, the post states that Facebook will no longer allow ads promoting contracts for difference (CFDs), an arrangement made in financial derivatives trading whereby the differences in the settlement between the open and closing trades are cash settled. Facebook say that these complex financial products are often associated with predatory behaviour.
Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) fall into this category, and ads for them will continue to be banned.
People who want to promote cryptocurrency and closely related products, such as cryptocurrency exchanges and mining software and hardware, will still have to go through a review process, says the post. Facebook say they are committed to “preventing misleading advertising on our platforms, especially in the area of financial products and services”. It will take into account whether companies have licences, are traded on a public stock exchange and other relevant public business background.
However, it will no longer be essential to get approval for ads focusing on blockchain, industry education and news, or even events directly linked to digital tokens.
