On January 31, Facebook announced, that it will block all ads related to cryptocurrency. The new ads policy applies also to Instagram and Audience Network, as Facebook platforms.

The Facebook’s decision was explained by the company’s product management director, Rob Leathern. According to his blog post, the new rules’ purpose is to “to improve the integrity and security” of Facebook ads. Rob Leathern stated, that many companies promoting ICOs and cryptocurrency just mislead users, while “deceptive ads have no place on Facebook”.

“We want people to continue to discover and learn about new products and services through Facebook ads without fear of scams or deception,” Rob Leathern wrote and asked users to report posts that violate the Facebook's policy. Nevertheless, he didn’t exclude the possibility that this strict rules are temporary and could be changed. “We will revisit this policy and how we enforce it as our signals improve,” he wrote.

The news about Facebook’s ban on cryptocurrency ads has probably affected the value of bitcoin, whose price fell by 12% on the day the company announced its new ads policy.