Facebook is banning cryptocurrency ads

Sorry, bitcoin, but you're no longer welcome among the puppy pictures, faceless cooking videos, and life updates from your aunt's friend's son-in-law.
Facebook announced Tuesday that it is banning ads for cryptocurrencies, the encrypted digital currencies whose turbulent fortunes have inspired many an impulsive investment. They've also been known to be fodder for several fraudulent get-rich-quick schemes — a con Facebook is hoping to help its users avoid. In a blog post Tuesday, Product Management Director Robert Leathern wrote that the company does not want its users to fall for scams "frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices such as binary options, initial coin offerings, and cryptocurrencies."
There are legitimate cryptocurrencies that advertise on Facebook, as Recode noted. But skeptics warn that cryptocurrencies are fool's gold and that investors will end up with empty pockets. Bitcoin, perhaps the most famous of these digital treasures, has been particularly volatile: Its price per coin reached nearly $20,000 in December, but now is hovering around $10,000. At the beginning of 2017, it was priced around $1,000.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Leathern concedes that credible cryptocurrencies will get swept up by Facebook's "intentionally broad" guidelines for now, but he said that these restrictions would be at least somewhat temporary. "[Facebook] will revisit this policy and how we enforce it as our signals improve," he wrote.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
-
Who is actually running DOGE?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The White House said in a court filing that Elon Musk isn't the official head of Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency task force, raising questions about just who is overseeing DOGE's federal blitzkrieg
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How does the Kennedy Center work?
The Explainer The D.C. institution has become a cultural touchstone. Why did Trump take over?
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
What are reciprocal tariffs?
The Explainer And will they fix America's trade deficit?
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pauses
Speed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Chinese AI chatbot's rise slams US tech stocks
Speed Read The sudden popularity of a new AI chatbot from Chinese startup DeepSeek has sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor deal
Speed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US Steel
Speed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons merger
Speed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Rupert Murdoch loses 'Succession' court battle
Speed Read Murdoch wanted to give full control of his empire to son Lachlan, ensuring Fox News' right-wing editorial slant
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Bitcoin surges above $100k in post-election rally
Speed Read Investors are betting that the incoming Trump administration will embrace crypto
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Enron mystery: 'sick joke' or serious revival?
Speed Read 23 years after its bankruptcy filing, the Texas energy firm has announced its resurrection
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published