Bitcoin saw 7% shaved off its price following the announcement by social media giant Twitter that cryptocurrency ads would be banned from its platform with immediate effect.
Twitter Ad Ban
Speaking to CNBC a Twitter spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring the safety of the Twitter community. As such, we have added a new policy for Twitter ads relating to cryptocurrency – under this new policy, the advertisement of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and token sales will be prohibited globally.”
And markets haven’t reacted positively. Bitcoin dropped below $8000, trading as low as $7886 according to market data from crypto news site Coindesk. Timothy Tam, the co-founder of crypto-market intelligence site CoinFi predicted:
“Today’s news on Twitter’s ban is likely a significant contributor to the steep sell-off – as new retail investors enter cryptocurrency, a large portion of them are trading on raw emotion.”
The announcement on Twitter ad policy comes after several weeks of similar bans on crypto products advertising by fellow technology giants such as Google and Facebook who are attempting to curtail fraudulent initial coin offerings.
Live Chart – Bitcoin
Facebook And Google
Bitcoin fell 12% in January as Facebook introduced a blanket ban on all ads promoting cryptocurrencies in order to remove “financial products and services frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices.” Earlier this month, Google updated its financial services policy to restrict advertising for cryptocurrencies and related content from June onwards.
In addition, uncertainty looms over the sector as regulatory bodies and finance ministers from countries around the world consider proposals on how to govern crypto assets
SEC Demand Transparency
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a large number of subpoenas this month in an effort to police ICO fundraising processes more thoroughly. Bitcoin then began trading below $10,000 after the Commission announced that would be requiring digital asset exchanges to register formally with the agency.
Prices stabilised in the $9000 range after G20 financial leaders offered some reassurance, with Italy’s central bank leader, in particular, recognising that although cryptocurrencies pose new risks, they certainly should not be banned. “My understanding is that there is an acceptance of continuing to work also on the stability side with the idea that this doesn’t imply barring it.” said Ignazio Visco.