Social Media App Snapchat Confirms Complete Ban of ICO-Related Ads

San Francisco-based Snap Inc., the company behind famed messaging app Snapchat, this week became the latest social media company to place a ban on advertisements related to initial public offerings (ICOs).

Snapchat banning ICO ads having a beareffect, coming off Facebook banning ICO ads, having a bear effect, coming off Google banning ICO ads having a bear effect, coming off of YouTube banning ICO ads having a bear effect, coming off of….See the trend? Don’t be stupid #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/iVwGG06uq6

— Swiftereum ⚡ (@Swiftereum) March 22, 2018

The move was first reported on by Cheddar on Monday as the social media giant confirmed that it is going to ban all ICO-related ads from its platform. It will, however, continue to allow other cryptocurrency-related ads for the time being.

This decision comes on the heels of Google and Facebook banning all cryptocurrency-related ads from their respective platforms.

Facebook became the first social media platform to restrict most ads and promoted posts related to cryptocurrencies in January 2018. This was followed by a similar decision taken by the search engine giant Google, which will impose a ban on all advertisement of cryptocurrency-related companies or services on its platform effective June 2018. Google’s decision will also impact ads on its subsidiary ad-intensive platforms like YouTube.

According to several reports, Twitter is also planning to ban all crypto-related ads in the coming weeks. Though the news is not officially confirmed yet, it was reported that the micro-blogging platform’s decision is in response to the increasing number of cryptocurrency-related scams being pulled off using the platform.

A stern warning issued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against ICOs is one of the major reasons behind the wave of bans on cryptocurrency ads, as the securities market watchdog revealed that many tokens being sold by blockchain-based firms fall under securities category and will therefore be considered as unregistered securities.

Moreover, several US state agencies banned token sales and the offering of blockchain services by certain blockchain firms in their respective states, citing that the firms’ offerings fall under securities.