Twitter to start banning cryptocurrency ads, joining Google and Facebook

Twitter, following in the footsteps of Google and Facebook, will now ban ads for ICOs and token sales.

Reuters first reported the ban. A Twitter spokesperson told VentureBeat that the new policy will roll out starting tomorrow, and will be fully enforceable to all advertisers within approximately a month.

“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. We will continue to iterate and improve upon this policy as the industry evolves,” a statement from Twitter provided to VentureBeat read.

Twitter’s financial services policy has already been updated to reflect the ban.

Twitter cofounder and CEO Jack Dorsey is bullish on cryptocurrency, telling. London news outlet The Times last week that he believes everyone will be using Bitcoin in 10 years or less. Still, cryptocurrency use hasn’t reached widespread adoption among average consumers. That makes it ripe for unethical advertisers to spread misinformation.

BuzzFeed reported last month that automated Twitter accounts impersonating Elon Musk and Donald Trump were encouraging Twitter users to donate Bitcoin or Ethereum to dubious crypto wallet addresses, with messages like “I’m donating 250 BITCOIN! to the BTC community! First 250 transactions with 0.2 BTC sent to the address below will receive 1.0 BTC in the address the 0.2 BTC came from!” After the report came out, Twitter said it would start taking down these accounts.

Facebook and Google announced that they would be banning cryptocurrency ads in January and March respectively. Facebook’s ban has already taken effect, though Google’s won’t be implemented until June.