Will the cryptocurrency industry survive this trial of the (evil) triad?!
First, it was Facebook that banned the advertising of ICOs and cryptocurrency-related opportunities on its platform in early January.
Now, Google joined last week banning cryptocurrency adverts on its platform. Although the Google’s new 'anti-crypto' policy will start in June. This may lead to a spike in cryptocurrency advertising on Google over the next few months as new ICOs take advantage of the time lag.
In addition, Twitter is poised to join the gang as early as two weeks' time!
According to a SkyNews report, Twitter’s “new advertising policy will be implemented in two weeks and currently stands to prohibit advertisements for initial coin offerings (ICOs), token sales, and cryptocurrency wallets globally.”
Undoubtedly this gang-up could have negative impact on not only new digital currencies trying to launch but also already established ones like Bitcoin which is currently on a downward slope.
In any case, any "bad" news surrounding the industry will impact all of cryptocurrency including our beloved Steem which is very low at the time of writing this piece.
My personal opinion is that, while the animosity from 'traditional' tech giants like Facebook, Google and Twitter grows against the cryptocurrency industry, the following consequences are almost inevitable:
Decentralization cannot be stopped.
Traditional tech giants will soon leverage the Blockchain technology to create their own cryptocurrencies (they are obviously angry for being late to the party but their capitalistic worldview may not augur well for their blockchain-related ventures)
Decentralized social networks like Steemit, Sola, Selflerry etc. should begin to widely adopt the 'advertising' model as they also grow their user base. (It's mostly a win-win proposition and ICO advertisers have a niche audience). However, there must be a mechanism to weed out fraudulent schemes to protect prospective investors.
Looming Cyber-war as crypto-addicts and blockchain technologists may consider fighting back by promoting cyber campaigns against alleged 'establishment' stooges -Facebook, Google and Twitter.
Dear Braveheart, what do you think...how do you see this anti-crypto moves playing out? I'd love to read your comments.