Facebook bans cryptocurrency ads

Facebook is banning ads on its platform that promote cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin, as well as initial coin offerings (ICOs).

The company says that it wants to keep ads off the site that “promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices.”

Ads that violate its new standards will be banned across the company’s platforms, including Facebook itself, Instagram and Audience Network, which places ads on many third-party sites.

{mosads}“We want people to continue to discover and learn about new products and services through Facebook ads without fear of scams or deception. That said, there are many companies who are advertising binary options, ICOs and cryptocurrencies that are not currently operating in good faith,” said Rob Leathern, Facebook product management director.

He explained that the policy is intentionally broad as the company figures out how to enforce its new policy against cryptocurrency ads.

Among those whose ads will no longer be allowed on Facebook’s platforms are “crypto genius” James Altucher, a cryptocurrency advocate who frequently appears in the media to speak on the subject.

Altucher’s ads often feature hyperbolic rhetoric touting messages like “New must-own cryptocurrencies could turn as little as $10 into a fortune.”

The company’s decision comes almost one month after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that he was examining cryptocurrencies to see if they could be of any use to his company.