Google Advertising Policy Opens Doors To Wider Bitcoin Community

Google has updated its advertising policy to allow cryptocurrency wallets to advertise globally for ... [+] the first time, as long as advertisers comply with local laws and regulations.

Google GOOG is revising its advertising policy to let cryptocurrency wallets advertise with them, along with exchanges, starting August 3rd provided that they are either registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) or a federal or state chartered bank entity. The new policy will apply globally to Google search and its third-party sites, including YouTube, Gmail, or Blogger. 

The expanded policy comes three years after Google banned all crypto-related advertising in March 2018. However, Google walked-back the policy five months later, allowing regulated cryptocurrency exchanges such as Coinbase to advertise in the United States and Japan in September 2018. While expanded to allow cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets to advertise, ads for initial coin offerings (ICOs), decentralized finance (DeFi) trading protocols, or promotions of specific cryptocurrencies are not permitted under the new policy. 

Reversing this policy could be a boon to their advertising sales, which generated $147 billion in revenue, making up more than 80% of Alphabet’s total revenue. Public interest in cryptocurrencies and crypto exchanges has ballooned in recent months as a result of Coinbase’s direct listing in April and the record-breaking bitcoin rally when the leading crypto reached it’s all-time-high price of $64,671.23. The industry has also seen a surge in traditional institutional players such as Fidelity and JPMorgan JPM offer crypto investment services. Worldwide search interest in cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets is down from their peaks in mid-May, however the levels are still elevated. 

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