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Facebook has announced a ban on adverts on cryptocurrencies.
It announced on Tuesday that it will not display ads for financial products that “are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices,” specifically virtual currencies and “initial coin offerings,” a fundraising tactic that new cryptocurrencies use to woo new investors.
Rob Leathern, a product management director at Facebook, in a blog post, said: “Two of our core advertising principles outline our belief that ads should be safe, and that we build for people first. Misleading or deceptive ads have no place on Facebook.
“We’ve created a new policy that prohibits ads that promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, such as binary options, initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency.
“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.
“This policy is intentionally broad while we work to better detect deceptive and misleading advertising practices, and enforcement will begin to ramp up across our platforms including Facebook, Audience Network and Instagram. We will revisit this policy and how we enforce it as our signals improve”
Following the astronomical rise in prices of bitcoin and many alternative cryptocurrencies last year, investors and companies of all kinds have shown interest. But these had led to the promotion of schemes that look too good to be true.