The cryptocurrency community has had to endure blow after blow due to the burgeoning cryptocurrency ad bans put into place by some of the biggest and most influential internet giants during the past few weeks. Facebook was first. Not a big deal, but it was definitely a setback to new ICO startups and entrepreneurs looking to market their new blockchain products to the masses. Google was next to follow, and Twitter soon after.
It seems that the entire civilized internet is banning cryptocurrency advertisements, and whatever the rationale these decisions may be, it has had a negative impact on the crypto space. At least for the short term!
To add insult to injury, these social media ad bans are being announced in the midst of government, banks and private companies/individuals are increasingly speaking up to create new market parameters for cryptocurrencies.
Today, I will be sharing my thoughts as to why these social media giants are cracking down on crypto, what this may possibly mean for us long term and what we (as the crypto community) can do to greatly soften these seemingly powerful blows.
Why is everybody banning cryptocurrency?
All the social media companies are blaming ICO scams for the crypto ad bans. ICO scams That’s the reason. Think about it: People are too stupid to think for themselves, so they need a sovereign, omnipotent, all knowing zuckerburgish superior to help them make the right decisions. After all, it’s completely inconceivable to image a world where people are responsible enough to make their own financial decisions. Right??
Wrong! People are more than capable of making good decisions. Now in my honest opinion, I do believe that ICO scams may play a small part in encouraging these bans. That being said, I believe that the reasoning goes much deeper than that.
More than just ICO scams.
Cryptocurrency is one of those polarizing topics that tends to elicit strong emotion regardless of your position. It’s no secret that governments and central banks (the two are inextricably linked in today’s modern world) feel threatened by cryptocurrency, Bitcoin in particular. In fact, Bank of America recently made some interesting comments in part of an annual 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about the bank's operations and business risks, saying:
"Clients may choose to conduct business with other market participants who engage in business or offer products in areas we deem speculative or risky, such as cryptocurrencies," They went on to say that such increased competition may "negatively affect our earnings" or affect "the willingness of our clients to do business with us."
If the banks feel threatened, you can rest assured that they will be paying off the right politicians to write and enforce legislation in their favor. That has been the name of their game since at least 1913 when the Federal Reserve Act created the current Federal Reserve System.
The entire establishment feels threatened by cryptocurrency
Interestingly enough, In January 2018, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin made some interesting remarks regarding cryptocurrency at the Economic Club of Washington. Publicly acknowledging the threat of Bitcoin and other altcoins, he said that
"one of the things we will be working very closely with the G-20 on is making sure that this doesn't become the Swiss numbered bank accounts."
He specifically cited the difficulty cryptocurrencies pose to tracking transactions as a major concern.
Soon afterward, India's finance minister, Arun Jaitley, made an even stronger statement saying that
"The government does not consider crypto-currencies legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate use of these crypto-assets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payment system."
So what does this all have to do with the social media cryptocurrency ad bans?
Mainstream social media is just another tentacle of the establishment
Personally, I am not surprised that social media is following suit to fit the agenda of governments and banks. After all, social media is openly used as a tool to propagandize the masses and change thoughts feelings and emotions regarding various topics. Without getting into too much detail here, Google is currently censoring search results to fit certain narratives, twitter is shadow banning certain users to prevent the spread of information deemed “unacceptable” and Facebook, has openly admitted that they know how to make users feel happier or sadder with a few computer key strokes. Back in 2014, they published details of a vast experiment in which it manipulated information posted on 689,000 users' home pages and found it could make people feel more positive or negative through a process of "emotional contagion".
These tech companies control the information, and “He who controls the information controls the world” It’s no wonder that these powerful tech giants are starting to conform to the ideology of the governments and banks concerning cryptocurrency. If banks can pay off governments, I’m sure they can pay off the CEOs of tech giants like Google and Facebook. While there are some variations regarding the specifics of these advertising bans, (some going as far as to ban wallet and research services as well) we will no doubt begin to see cryptocurrency fade out of the “mainstream” online outlets of advertisement once they are implemented during the next few months.
What does this mean for the crypto community?
Firstly, I want to say that these ban will, at most, have negligible effects on the health of larger, more established cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and more likely to hurt new ICOs and small cryptos, as these otherwise will have difficulty breaking out amid the still roughly 1,500 cryptocurrencies out there. Even still, here are the potential outcomes of the situation at hand:
Possibility #1 A significant decrease in crypto trading & total market capitalization
The first notable effect is that the ban will likely decrease the number of people flocking to trade the likes of bitcoin and ethereum (two of the most popular cryptocurrencies). With virtually no adverts relating to cryptocurrencies at all on the world’s most popular search engine, it makes sense that fewer people will be able to see the trading opportunities available to them.
Companies which offer the means to trade cryptocurrencies (such as exchanges) are likely to find it more difficult to reach out to new customers, and could well see a dip in profits as a result.
Because crypto will be essentially erased from a significant portion of the public consciousness, crypto traders will undoubtedly see some effect on the cryptocurrency’s value, at least in the short term, as traders react to the news of Google’s ban. Fewer new investors means less trading volume and less money coming into the market. The market is already very volatile by nature, and and small waves such as these ad bans are sure to have an effect.
Additionally, the bans could well harm the reputation of cryptocurrencies, as it suggests that they are risky and potentially harmful to those who trade them. This may cause those who own cryptocurrencies to sell them off, decreasing demand and lowering the price.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Bitcoin dominance is very low these days. At the writing of this post, it is under 45%. That means that 55% of the total money in the crypto markets is currently in altcoins. Most of these altcoins only get exposure from adverts on the internet. Once these adverts go away, these altcoins may disappear into oblivion.
Possibility #2 Little or no effect
Now, on a the brighter side, we may very well see that there will be few or no longer term effects on the cryptocurrencies themselves. While we did see a noticeable and abrupt dip in the Bitcoin price (along with the rest of the market) every time a company announced ad bans, we saw a recovery each time.
After bitcoin’s amazing leaps in value in 2017, cryptocurrencies have already been been in the headlines many times over. It’s possible that the damage has already been done and Google’s ban will do little to stop the current surge in interest which has cause such a sharp increase in demand during the last few months.
Instead of affecting the actual currencies, the bans are far more likely to affect companies offering cryptocurrency services instead. Even then, the effects may well only last for a short period of time, given the current popularity of cryptocurrencies across the world. We know from history that the crypto markets can recover from even the most horrible things!
What should we do during these times?
These are the times that we need to stand strong and really invest in the health of crypto. I’m not talking about simply holding and trading bitcoin, but I’m talking about a wholistic embrace of the crypto lifestyle. There are steps each of us can take in order to bolster this community and help this blockchain movement progress.
One simple things we can all do is we can stop using mainstream social media like facebook and twitter and instead use decentralized alternatives such as Steemit and Mastodon. These social media giants only have money and influence because e allow them to have it. If people stop using facebook, if people stop using twitter, these companies will not survive. And honestly we, as the crypto community, have so much incentive to use Steemit. We actually get paid in crypto for using it! It’s foolish for us not to be on Steemit. If we help spread the word about Steemit and the benefits of using alternative social media platforms, more and more people will join us. Eventually, if we gather enough people, it won’t what facebook and twitter do. We can take the power away from them.
The potential of crypto in the future
Another thing we can do during these uncertain times is remember why we got into crypto in the first place. Of course, all of us want to make money. But crypto is much more than making money. It is about financial sovereignty, freedom of expression and privacy. It was not solely created for the sake of making us rich over night like so many people like to preach. On the contrary, Bitcoin was meant to undermine the entire financial system.
Now is the time to hold onto our crypto knowing full well that this technology is here to stay. We need not get discouraged by all the FUD.
Bitcoin can not and will not be stopped by regulation!
Bitcoin was created to be regulation proof.
It was created to do away with the oppressive system that is currently doing everything it can to stop this movement from gaining steem (.....lol)
Satoshi intended Bitcoin to function as the catalyst for worldwide freedom and the peaceful transfer of power from the central banks to the people. It exists as the antithesis to the corrupt governments and banks who want to keep the entire world under bondage.
The future is bright my friends! Keep calm, HODL and get involved wherever you can! Spread the word about Bitcoin, Steemit and other blockchain companies that are poised to revolutionize the world that we live in!
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Until next time,
Jayson
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