In a surprising move, a trusted source of crypto-news appears to be biting the hand that feeds it in spectacular fashion.

The ICO advertising ban is no longer just for the pillars of internet 1.0. Now, in an extraordinary turn of events, it appears that Coin Desk, an established crypto-news website, has railed against the very industry it reports on.

In a move that should be considered in equivalence to the Financial Times banning the promotion of new fund launches in their paper, Coin Desk have decided to put the boot in on the fledgling fund raising model, popular with the crypto-asset market.

Spelt out in bold writing

It seems that Coin Desk, although not promoting the ban, haven’t kept it to themselves either. On the ‘advertising’ section of their website, the fact you can no longer advertise your ICO is clearly marked.

The kind of consistency that builds trust

But all is not as it seems. There are still ICOs being pushed in Coin Desk’s banner ads, as we can see from the screen grab below, taken today (4th July 2018).

So, what are we to make of all this? Surely a ban is a ban?

Markets are undermined by inconsistent deployment of rules. News sources are no different. If Coin Desk have a blanket ban for ICOs advertising on their site, but allow the projects backed by their owner, Digital Currency Group, to promote their token sales, surely this erodes trust in the articles they decide to run also?

News outlets are at their best when they are independent of any influences. When they hold a narrative to promote the interests of their overlords, then why would any reader trust them any more? Such an example can be seen in the political partisanship that runs through the UK newspaper industry. Hence why most people prefer to get their news from BBC News there.

No comment

Although we approached Coin Desk for comment, they did not respond.

So where does this leave the ICO industry regarding marketing and promotion?

Well, Coin Telegraph are happy to help – for a king’s ransom of up to $40,000.

We do also help projects promote their ICOs, as we consider such activities to be beneficial for the crypto-ecosystem (and we don’t charge 40k).