Crypto News | Google Crypto Ads Ban Shakes Things Up

Economists saying that crypto is a bubble about to burst? Check, been that way for 8 years. Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF writes in her blog post to “fight fire with fire”, and that governments should crack down on cryptos since they are a “major new vehicle for money laundering and the financing of terrorism”? Wow, ticks all the boxes. Old news, next. News break on Wednesday about the Google crypto ads ban announcement? Wait, what? We’d like to hear more.

Honestly, there isn’t much else to say. Google, the world’s biggest online ad provider, announced that it would be banning cryptocurrency and ICO ads, following in Facebook’s footsteps. Although many argue that Facebook’s ban was unsuccessful and that the filters can be easily circumvented, say with alternative spelling, Bitcoin did not feel reassured by that, and its price did take a hit following the Google crypto ads ban announcement, dropping below $8,000, before recovering between 8 and 9 AM UTC today. Google said that the restrictions on ads for “cryptocurrencies and related content” will come into effect in June. In spite of the temporary scare, many in the industry believe that the ban will be good for cryptocurrencies in the long term, such as the CEO of BKCM, Brian Kelly, who said that “Facebook and Google ads were always a red flag” anyway.

ICOs also came under fire during a US Congress hearing of the House Capital Markets, Securities and Investment Subcommittee, which took place on Wednesday. One representative called cryptos a “crock”, some expressed intent to pursue legislative action, although most representatives appeared to be leaning towards striking a balance between regulation and innovation in the space.  Mike Lampres, the only person present from a crypto startup, speaking on behalf of Coinbase, asked for more clarity instead of more regulation. In his words, “each agency looks at tokens from its own narrow perspective”, for the SEC they are securities, for the CFTC commodities, for the IRS property, and for FinCEN money.

In an unrelated news, Coinbase won another major victory, only this time, it was abroad. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has granted an e-money license to Coinbase, allowing the exchange to issue e-money and provide payment services.