Facebook Owner Meta Relaxes Rules on Cryptocurrency Adverts

Facebook unveiled their new Meta sign at the company headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., on Oct. 28, 2021. Tony Avelar/AP Photo

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, updated its ad platform criteria for cryptocurrencies on Wednesday, by expanding the number of accepted regulatory licenses from three to 27, citing an increase in regulations as well as the stability achieved in the industry.

“Over the years the cryptocurrency landscape has matured and stabilized and experienced an increase in government regulation, which has helped to set clearer responsibilities and expectations for the industry," said the Meta announcement.

“Going forward, we will be moving away from using a variety of signals to confirm eligibility and instead requiring one of these 27 licenses,” it said.

The complete list of regulators now approved by Facebook, including authorities like AUSTRAC (Australia), FINTRAC (Canada), BaFin (Germany), FSA (Japan), FCA (U.K.), FinCEN and NYSDFS from the United States, is now displayed on the company’s policy page. Crypto businesses can advertise on Meta platforms if approved by these authorities.

The amended policy now allows these companies access to tax services related to crypto businesses, media, services based on blockchain technology but not offering any cryptocurrencies, and wallets used to store crypto tokens without the feature to buy, sell or swap, to post ads without prior written permission.

Cryptocurrency exchanges and trading platforms, software that offers crypto lending and borrowing, wallets with features for buying and selling, and vendors selling hardware for mining need to obtain permission for running advertisements.

“With more openness and transparency for what crypto companies can do, we will see more adoption for the cryptocurrency industry and the metaverse than ever before,” said Henry Love to CNBC. Love is a former Facebook employee and managing partner of Fundamental Labs, a venture capital firm investing in blockchain. “This is a game changer for mass adoption,” he added.

The latest move by Meta comes on the heels of David Marcus, one of the executives responsible for the platform’s venture into cryptocurrencies, announcing his departure by the end of the year.

Marcus was responsible for stewarding Libra, now Diem stablecoin, Facebook’s own digital currency that has been facing considerable obstacles since its 2019 announcement, including several high-profile partners abandoning the project and lawmakers criticizing the venture.

Although Diem’s future remains speculative, Meta’s Novi cryptocurrency wallet has been launched allowing users to send and receive the USDP stablecoin, run by blockchain company Paxos. Stablecoin is a digital currency pegged to a “stable” reserve asset like gold or the U.S. dollar.

Meta’s policy change will give digital currency exchanges around the world access to almost 3 billion users registered on the platform, which includes WhatsApp and Instagram.

The company said that the rules may be amended further “as the industry changes,” and more licenses may be added to the list as they become eligible.