Facebook forbids cryptocurrency ads

Facebook will not allow any cryptocurrency exchange to advertise on its platform.

The annnouncement detailed that the new policy would prohibit ads associated with misleading or deceptive promotion practices such as ICO's, binary options, and cryptocurrency.

Acknowledging that not all cryptocurrency is harmful or deceptive, Rob Leathern, Facebook's product management director said that the company wants to lower risk for its users.

The change comes just days after cryptocurrency hackers managed to extract value from the computers and devices of YouTube's users, for the purpose of currency mining.

Leathern added that the move aims to shield Facebook's users from companies that promises digital riches to mislead and defraud unsuspecting investors.

Intentionally broad in its implementation, the new policy will gradually amend its enforcement after Facebook figures out a means of detecting deceptive and misleading ad practices in advance, a measure it set in motion in 2017.

“We will revisit this policy and how we enforce it as our signals improve,” Leathern said.

Facebook admits that there is no guarantee that it will manage to catch every misleading ad under the policy, while encouraging its users to help report ads that violate its advertising policies.