Initial Coin Offerings – Educated Investment or Just FOMO?

In a cryptocurrency market that is heavily driven by FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out, many investors make instant and very costly financial decisions. One of which is investing in ICO’s, Initial Coin Offerings. Today, there are services that allow you to create and run your own ICO within minutes! This is both amazing and scary at the same time. It is amazing from a technical perspective but scary that anyone can set up an ICO with no actual value and then run away with the investor’s funds. Now let’s also add to this, the well-known fact that ICO’s can raise 10’s of millions within hours of launching, it should be a no-brainer that it certainly has and will keep attracting scammers. Restricting ICO ads could restrict scammers from attracting beginners by spamming ads on social media and other platforms using AdSense. As a result, it could leave more room for professional and original ICO’s to dominate the market for new tokens and innovations.

Mining Scams – Is Your PC Infected?

Another big step taken by Google to protect the average surfers was to ban and remove all mining extensions for their browser Google Chrome. The reason for this move is “Cryptojacking” which is a process where a malicious extension runs in the background, using the surfer’s CPU to mine one or various coins for the issuer of the extension without the user’s consent, as it was reported at news.bitcoin.com. There is a debate of whether this really is profitable for the crypto jackers or not. Regardless, if something steals your power and slows down your PC it is called a virus and who wouldn’t want to get rid of it? I for one don’t want a slower computer and a higher electricity bill so I’m glad Google is taking actions.

There is Hope – New Policy Updates!

In June 2018, Google will restrict their policies for advertising financial services.

– Cryptocurrencies and related content (including but not limited to initial coin offerings, cryptocurrency exchanges, cryptocurrency wallets, and cryptocurrency trading advice)

advertisers offering Contracts for Difference, rolling spot forex, and financial spread betting will be required to be certified by Google before they can advertise through AdWords. Certification is only available in certain countries” – Google Adwords Policy

Well, turns out it’s not all bad news. On the contrary, this is a big plus! Advertisers will be offered to apply for certification. For example, exchanges and brokers who wish to offer cryptocurrencies must obtain a license from a financial regulator in the country/countries they are targeting before they can run ads. In addition, they must ensure that they comply with all the Adwords policies. The process for requesting certifications already started in March 2018. This should give regulated services enough time to apply for a certificate.

As you can see, this is not a war against the blockchain industry. Cryptocurrency and trading-related ads will not be totally banned but rather just restricted. With fake ads not being able to spam the web, there is hope that regulated and licensed financial services will have an advantage over the scammers.

Not a Fight against Cryptocurrencies

After going through the facts, it is obvious that there are problems in the world of cryptocurrencies. It’s all still in the beginning stage and with new technology and new investment opportunities, new types of scams also follow. Something needed to be done. At first sight, anyone who doesn’t know about all the scams in this industry might think that this is yet another blow by the “big boys”, the bankers, the governments and the social media giants because “they are scared of blockchain technology and wish to stop it”. As I mentioned earlier, there are many rumors like that and many pessimists are angered by the recent policies. However, reflecting on the problems we discussed in this article, it is not too hard to accept the steps taken by Google and other platforms. Remember that this is not a total ban and blockade against cryptocurrencies. Because reliable and licensed services will still remain in business with certified ads.

The next time you see an ad after the new policies kick in, another banner with a catchy name tempting you to click on it to earn money with Bitcoin, Forex trading or any other financial business, you can be sure that the people behind it are licensed and regulated and the ad is certified by Google. You can also view this as a step that encourages more and serious investors into the market – people who used to be reluctant towards investing due to all the scams. In conclusion, knowing the market is regulated and monitored can only benefit the future of cryptocurrency and trading industry.