Twitter has been toying with cryptocurrency for the last few weeks. First, rumours emerged that it would be following Facebook and Google in placing a ban on crypto advertising. Then, cryptocurrencies received a glowing recommendation from Twitter’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, who said Bitcoin will be the world’s – and Internet’s – single future currency.
However the toying came to an end with a snap as Twitter announced that it would indeed be putting up a rather large ban on cryptocurrency advertising. This is in line with Facebook and Google, who did the same previously for similar reasons too.
Twitter has said the prohibition will cover advertising of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), as well as token sales. This can be considered an attempt to stamp out fraudulent, deceptive and dodgy ICO scams which are currently
However, the ban goes further and bans ads by cryptocurrency exchanges and cryptocurrency wallet services, unless they are public companies listed on certain major stock markets.
It feels like an extra step by Twitter that is too harsh on the crypto community as a whole. There are even some that feel it is hypocritical from a platform that is full of other scams.

For the safety of users

Much like Facebook, which stated its banning policy would be “intentionally broad” to begin with, Twitter is taking aim at many business sectors within the cryptocurrency market place: ICOs, exchanges and wallet services are all in their crosshairs.
Just like Google, Twitter’s reasoning for the ban is the protection of its audience from deceptive content.
Google’s director of sustainable ads Scott Spencer said in a blog post that set out to explain the reasoning for the ad ban, after it was announced:
“As consumer trends evolve, as our methods to protect the open web get better, so do online scams. Improving the ads experience across the web, whether that's removing harmful ads or intrusive ads, will continue to be a top priority for us.”
Twitter was already taking measures to prevent crypto-related accounts from “engaging with others in a deceptive manner”, but faced calls to enact futher measures following bans from Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc. (Google’s parent company).

A broad blanket

The idea of curtailing scam ICOs from reaching a susceptible market should well be praised, and could be the right way to go about controlling the spread of deceptive crypto companies. However, as Zennon Kapron, director of the financial consultancy Kapronasia pointed out, it is not that simple:
“With the increasing number of ICOs coming to market, it is an impossible task for anyone, much less platforms like Twitter or Facebook, to keep on top of which ICOs and cryptocurrencies are genuine versus frauds.”
“Although certainly ICO advertising must have been a significant source of revenue for Twitter, the repercussions of fraudulent activities just weren’t worth the risk.”
The problem comes with Twitter taking a broad approach to all cryptocurrency advertising, banning wallets and exchanges too, unless they are listed on certain major stock markets.
There are not many services, legitimate or otherwise, that are listed on stock markets, which makes this blanket ban all the more damaging, but also helps explain its base. As Twitter cannot moderate and determine the validity of all exchanges and wallets, the ban that is has decided to issue has to be an overarching one.

Seeing some good, some seeing stupidity

With such a bold and broad attack on the burgeoning cryptocurrency space, reactions have been mixed. There are those who feel that scams in the market having an avenue to reach more susceptible people is dangerous.