Facebook, Google, Yandex and Twitter imposed bans on ads relating to cryptocurrencies and ICOs. And this might give their legal departments new work to do as multiple cryptocurrency associations from China, S. Korea and Russia plan to sue them.

UPDATE: Facebook has softened its stance on crypto ads since this news broke out and some type of ads are now allowed. Also, facebook advertising courses are full of ways how you can circumvent the ban and get any ad approved.

These associations founded a new Eurasian Blockchain Association (EBA) after a meeting in Moscow and reached a deal to file a class action against internet giants in a US court.

When will it happen?

The lawsuit will be filed in May in front of a judge in US jurisdiction and it will be funded by a special cryptofund that is also created in the aforementioned congress in Moscow.

Lawyers will have the final say about the jurisdiction where the lawsuit will be filed. “You know, every state has different laws. Some states, like Wyoming for example, have been fair towards cryptocurrencies,” Yuri Pripachkin commented, quoted by RIA Novosti.

The simultaneous refusal to advertise cryptocurrencies could testify that there was a cartel collusion, said RACIB’s president Yuri Pripachkin, quoted by Tass and Interfax. “We think these four companies are using their monopoly power and have colluded to manipulate the market,” he added. Pripachkin pointed out that the bans led to significant market drops in the last months.

Ban Wave Begun with Facebook

In January, the social network giant Facebook outlawed cryptocurrency related advertising in an effort to protect users from various ICO scams, fraudulent token sales, Ponzi schemes and the likes.

Twitter will begin cutting out advertising of initial coin offerings and their token sales as well as global cryptocurrency wallet platforms if they are not publicly listed on select stock exchanges.

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The world’s biggest search engine, Google, is following in the footsteps of its social media cousins.

As reported in March, Google’s updated financial services policy will rule out all related cryptocurrency advertising through its AdWords service from June 2018. Once again, consumer protection is touted as the main driving factor behind the move.

Russia Losing Money on ICOs Held Abroad

Russia could lose up to 1.5 billion USD from ICOs conducted by Russians in more favorable jurisdictions. Russian startups that can’t organize an ICO in Russia are launching them abroad in large numbers. The reason is simple – current Russian laws do not regulate this way of attracting investments.

Because of startups departing to Western jurisdictions, RF budget lost over 18 billion rubles in 2017 alone. According to Russian Association of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency, state could receive another 3.5 billion in the form of taxes from departed startups.

This money would be enough to hold at least one public social program, clarify the association representatives.

All budget losses were calculated without taking into account the commissions that Russian cryptocurrency users pay to foreign companies for transferring virtual money to fiat.