Facebook Lifts Ban on Crypto Ads, What Does This Mean for Crypto?
By: Ivy Riane
Tags: Finance, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Investing, Sentiment

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO. Photo Retrieved from Harvard.edu

Facebook is a tech giant commanding loyalty in the marketplace. People look to Facebook for cues about what’s hot or not in the tech world.

In January 2018, Facebook banned crypto ads citing the need to protect users from possible fraud. Financial experts speculated on why this move was made and how long it would last.

The announcement included that binary options and ICOs still banned on the platform. Advertisers will be vetted by Facebook before being allowed to post crypto ads.

Was the ad ban a preemptive strike so Facebook could move into crypto?

“Customer safety and education about the market should remain a priority, but a blanket ban is a poor approach to new ideas,” Iqbal Gandham, UK managing director for eToro investment platform told The Independent. “Technology giants like Facebook are aware of the potential of blockchain technology to fundamentally change the financial system.”

Last month, Facebook launched a blockchain exploratory group within the company and one of Coinbase’s board members sits on that team!

Rumors About Coinbase

The Economist noted the absence of a major name in the crypto space and rumors of potential buyout of Coinbase by Facebook have entered speculation.

An acquisition of that magnitude would boost Facebook value and add credibility to the crypto market.

But would Coinbase agree to such a merger?

Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong, hasn’t commented on the rumors of a sale so far. He has ambitious goals of Coinbase reaching at least 1 Billion people, though, and Facebook has access to at least 2 Billion users currently.

Image Screenshot from Coinbase

A promotional video for Coinbase, released in March 2018, noted that their reach is estimated at about 10 million customers right now.

How Facebook Would Change the Game

The goal of Coinbase is to reach users that are using crypto on a daily basis (aka mass adoption and use).

Crypto is not at that stage yet.

A release of a crypto coin by Facebook would aid growth more than any crypto coin currently available in the market.

The size of the market sits at about 1500 coins but one coin offered by Facebook could change everything because of their reach and established reputation.

A Facebook crypto coin would serve as an actual currency instead of a speculative investment like many coins are now.

Big moves by industry giants cause other movers to enter quickly to try to gain market dominance. If Facebook entered the arena, Twitter and Google would likely soon follow.

Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, discussed decentralized currencies and technological advancements on his personal profile in January. But has made no further comment about Facebook involvement in blockchain or crypto.

“One of the most interesting questions in technology right now is about centralization vs decentralization. With the rise of a small number of big tech companies… many people now believe technology only centralizes power rather than decentralises it. “There are important counter-trends to this — like encryption and cryptocurrency — that take power from centralized systems and put it back into people’s hands.”

Personally, I think that Facebook will be one of the first tech giants into the space because it just makes good business sense for them. Zuckerberg is smart and takes calculated risks. Eventually, he will see that this is one risk worth taking.

Would love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for reading,

Ivy