Cryptocurrency promotional materials reappeared on Google’s platform after the company’s updated financial products and services policy went into effect on August 3.
Recall that the search giant banned ads about crypto and ICO – that is, the initial offer of tokens – back in June 2018. True, the latter are still banned, which means that crypto startups will still not be able to advertise their ICOs in the search engine.
Recall that ICO is the initial offer of tokens, that is, various cryptocurrencies. The essence of the event is to sell coins to early investors at a minimal price. Thus, they get the opportunity to capitalize on the growth in the value of the asset in the future, and the developers receive the funding necessary to further develop their platforms. The most successful example of an ICO is the launch of Binance Coin in July 2017, which became the basis for the successful operation of the Binance exchange and its transformation into the main cryptocurrency exchange in the world.
And although the cryptocurrency industry is much more mature than a few years ago, the problems with advertising its representatives are still relevant. For example, in July 2021, the leadership of the TikTok platform spoke out against cryptocurrency advertising.
TIkTok logo
However, now the situation is gradually improving. And Google contributes to this.
Google advertises crypto again
Under the new rules, «advertiser exchanges and wallets» targeting consumers in the United States of America will be able to post their content on the Google platform if they meet certain requirements. Thus, Google will increase the income of its parent company Alphabet.
However, revenues from advertising crypto products are likely to be a drop in the ocean, as the total revenue of Alphabet in general from all ad placements reaches $ 147 billion a year, according to Cointelegraph.
Google Ad Revenue Growth in Billions of Dollars
Google’s stringent requirements are to weed out unwanted ads and obvious cryptocurrency scams. Advertisers must be registered with the Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as a “money services firm and at least one state or federal bank as a payment platform”.
ICOs, decentralized trading protocols, and announcements for the purchase / sale of certain coins will still be banned. Celebrity advertising for anything related to digital assets is also prohibited. And this is a very reasonable move, since fraudsters constantly pretend to be famous persons in order to induce their victims to take certain actions.
Fraudsters are one of the main problems of the industry at the moment
At the same time, China still takes the lead in the total share of fraudulent transactions. According to analysts of the Chainalysis platform, between April 2019 and June 2021, the volume of transfers between Chinese crypto-wallets related to crime reached $ 2.2 billion .
However, there is some positive news as well. Gradually, the share of China in the shadow cryptocurrency turnover is decreasing. Here is a quote from a recent Chainalysis report on the matter, in which experts commented on what is happening in the digital asset niche. The replica is provided by Cointelegraph.
The volume of transactions in China among fraudulent addresses fell sharply during the study period, both in terms of net worth and compared to other countries. This is largely due to the lack of large-scale financial pyramids like PlusToken.
Recall that PlusToken is one of the most popular cryptocurrency pyramids, which brought tens of thousands of bitcoins from gullible investors to its creators. On the eve, all representatives of this project were arrested in China, which can be read about in a separate article.
This trend is very clear in the chart below. Notice how the PRC’s fraudulent transactions turnover fell significantly by July 2019, indicating a decline in the shadowy crypto market in that country.
Drop in crypto fraudulent transactions in China
Analysts are confident that the Chinese government has played a large role in the fight against fraud. In June alone, it carried out more than 1,100 arrests of citizens, one way or another related to crime in the cryptocurrency niche. However, the government’s active position in supporting the national digital currency may soon lead to a complete suppression of the crypto space in the country. Recall that earlier in some regions of China, Bitcoin mining was prohibited, which led to a large outflow of miners from the country to other regions of the world.
We believe that the changes to how Google work will benefit the cryptocurrency industry. Still, taking into account the requirements of the search giant, only reliable cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets will most likely be able to advertise in it, which means that users will be less likely to encounter fraud. Thus, the niche of digital assets will receive more investors, and its reputation will not suffer. And this clearly looks like a path for the massive popularization of cryptocurrencies.
