Facebook has announced that it is easing its recent ban imposed against cryptocurrency. They will allow pre-vetted crypto companies to advertise on their social network. The news has seemingly fueled rumors that the tech giant is considering buying Coinbase, although at the time they introduced the full ban, they did add the caveat that they would conduct further investigation to determine how best to proceed with crypto advertisements.

Facebook has had a torrid year, having fallen foul of data laws. Founder Mark Zuckerberg has been forced to appear at a congressional hearing to defend the company’s collection and use of personal data, following the controversy surrounding Cambridge Analytica’s use of personal information.

The crypto ban was first launched on January 30, when product management director Rob Leathern announced that ads that “promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, such as binary options, initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency.”

This week’s announcement isn’t exactly a full u-turn. At the time of the announcement, Facebook said that they would monitor the situation in the future. The social media giant has said that ICOs and binaries will still be prohibited. However, other crypto companies can now submit an application and, on acceptance, will be allowed to publish ads on the site.

Considering the announcement of the advertising ban saw Bitcoin prices slump, there had been hopes that the reversal would see prices rise again, but there has been no indication of that yet. However, it has further ignited rumors of the company’s intention to buy Coinbase. Following a major management reshuffle last month, they announced a blockchain exploratory team that would be looking into its potential use. The head of the team is David Marcus, who is not only the former head of Messenger but also sits on the board of Coinbase. With Facebook’s 2 billion users, if it introduced its own crypto or acquired another, it could potentially be used by more than any other single currency.

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