Google’s Planned Ban on Ads Promoting Cryptocurrencies: Would it Hurt Prices?

Lately, cryptocurrencies (digital forms of money) have been redefining finance and technology all over the world. In fact, the initial price of bitcoin in 2010 was less than 1 cent. Now, it is way beyond $19,000. One time seen as the forte of nerds and drug dealers, bitcoin now pulls millions of dollars from hedge funds.

Despite this, bitcoin has value only to the extent that its users agree that it does, making it a speculative financial product.

Thus, Alphabet Inc.’s Google announced that it will ban online advertisements for cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings beginning in June. Under the new policy, the company will ban ads for unregulated or speculative financial products like binary options, cryptocurrency and financial spread betting among others. The policy will be implemented across its platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Google to ban ads for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies across its advertising platforms pic.twitter.com/dQ5CKEU1Ob

— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) March 14, 2018

In a blog post, Google said it took down 3.2 billion ads that violated its advertising policies in 2017, nearly double the number of ads it removed in 2016.

Would a Ban on Ads Hurt the Price of Cryptocurrencies?

The risks to the financial stability of bitcoin are somewhat negligible, especially as the digital currency is having a spillover effect everywhere. More so, people are already finding ways to work around this ban.

For instance, Facebook banned ads for cryptocurrencies in January, but some aggressive businesses found a loophole by intentionally misspelling words like “bitcoin” in their ads. However, a Google spokeswoman has said the company’s policies will try to anticipate issues like this.

Google joins Facebook in banning ads for #cryptocurrencies https://t.co/2t7iJqTcOE via @WSJ#DigitalMarketing

— ANA Gov’t Relations (@ANAGovRel) March 14, 2018

Depending on whom you talk to, the ban could hurt the price of digital currencies– or maybe not. Well, it’s unlikely that it will have a serious impact on the price of cryptocurrencies. Specifically, because the reputation of a digital currency like bitcoin has improved over time–people can now buy and sell the coins directly from bitcoin exchange platforms.