Facebook Bans James Altucher, Cryptocurrency, ICO & Binary Options Ads

Facebook has issued a blanket ban on all cryptocurrency advertisements. The world’s largest social network will no longer accept ads related to cryptocurrencies – including any bitcoin, investment, or ICO-related ads.

Facebook described it as an “intentionally broad” policy aimed at stopping scammers. The ban targets “financial products and services frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices.”

That means no advertisers – even those that operate legal, legitimate businesses in the crypto space or elsewhere – will be allowed to promote bitcoin, initial coin offerings, or their crypto-related products and services. It also means scams and sleazy investment programs – like binary options trading platforms – are no longer permitted.

The move also targets individuals like the controversial James Altucher, who has launched a wide-ranging campaign describing himself as a “Crypto-Genius” preparing to reveal “the next bitcoin.” To learn what “the next bitcoin” is, you’ll need to subscribe to Altucher’s high-priced email subscription program. Altucher’s ads have been appearing across Facebook and other advertising portals online.

Facebook Also Bans Crypto Ads on Instagram

Facebook isn’t just banning crypto-related ads on its own social network: the company is also banning crypto ads on other advertising platforms it controls, including Instagram as well as Facebook’s ad network, Audience Network, which places ads on third party websites.

“This policy is intentionally broad while we work to better detect deceptive and misleading advertising practices,” wrote Rob Leathern, one of Facebook’s ad tech directors, as reported by Recode.net( https://www.recode.net/2018/1/30/16950926/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-bans-crypto-advertising-bitcoin-james-altucher ). “We will revisit this policy and how we enforce it as our signals improve.”

Obviously, this decision will face criticism: there are a lot of legitimate businesses, investments, and coins in the crypto space. However, there are also a lot of scams. This past month, we saw notorious Ponzi schemes like Bitconnect suddenly collapse. A new ICO scam appears online every day.

Facebook’s decision will also face criticism from major tech investors. Facebook’s board of directors, for example, including Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel, both of whom run firms that have been active in the crypto space. Meanwhile, Facebook Messenger’s head, David Marcus, is also on the board of Coinbase.

Stay tuned for more information about Facebook banning cryptocurrency-related advertisements.