Facebook has relaxed restrictions on the advertising of cryptocurrencies through its ads platform, in a significant policy U-turn for the firm.
The world’s largest social network announced the decision in a blog post earlier this week, announcing that advertisers in the cryptocurrency sectors would now be able to return to Facebook ads.
However, the new policy is not completely unrestricted, and still requires advertisers to seek approval before being permitted to run ads on the site.
The policy will still prohibit ads for binary options and initial coin offerings, two verticals more typically associated with untrustworthy advertisers. But with the rules now becoming considerably laxer around advertising cryptocurrencies and crypto products, it looks as if Facebook is warming to the sector again.
The approval process will require advertisers to submit specifics about their offer, and will require confirmation of any necessary licenses or corporate structures to offer specific products and services.
It has also been accompanied by a new legal addendum setting out the company’s policy on cryptocurrency advertising, in a bid to strengthen their new review and approval process. Facebook continued to suggest that far from being new hard and fast rules, the policy would likely be subject to further adjustments in the future.
Commenting on the developments, Rob Leathern, a product management director at Facebook, said the new policy would inevitably mean some advertisers were still left out in the cold.
“Given these restrictions, not everyone who wants to advertise will be able to do so. But we’ll listen to feedback, look at how well this policy works and continue to study this technology so that, if necessary, we can revise it over time.”
However, the move has already been welcomed in the cryptocurrency space, not least among those tasked with running PR.
Trey Ditto, founder at cryptocurrency specialists Ditto PR, said the move represented a positive shift for “credible” operators to reach those likely to be most interested in their work.
“This will be a big boost for Facebook advertising revenue as the majority of projects out there are interested – and have the money – to run paid ads.”
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