The Economist, that standing staple of old times, had something quite interesting to say buried deep into an article about tech giants and their monopolistic tendencies. They say:
“The lack of an incumbent giant is one reason why there is so much investor enthusiasm for crypto-currencies and for synthetic biology today.
But the giants are starting to pay more attention. There are rumours Facebook wants to buy Coinbase, a cryptocurrency firm.”
Facebook has reversed its blanket ban on cryptocurrency ads and will now allow pre-approved crypto businesses to advertise. However, ICOs and binary options will still be prohibited from the platform.
In a published https://www.facebook.com/business/news/updates-to-our-prohibited-financial-products-and-services-policy
Facebook Product Management Director Rob Leathern said the company has refined the policy and will now "allow ads that promote cryptocurrency and related content from pre-approved advertisers."
Facebook’s January ban on cryptocurrency ads stemmed from ICO scams and the lack of regulation in the space at the time.
Now, The Independent, have also weighed in on the rumour, according to the Independent:
“Experts say that not only could the acquisition boost Facebook’s value and utility, the involvement of the technology giant would add legitimacy to cryptocurrency markets. ‘It wouldn’t surprise me if Facebook made an attempt to acquire Coinbase,’ tech entrepreneur Oliver Isaacs told The Independent. ‘Whether [Coinbase CEO] Brian Armstrong and the team would agree is another question.’ Coinbase did not respond to a request for comment about a potential acquisition but Mr Armstrong has previously stated his firm’s ambitions of seeing cryptocurrency adoption reach a billion people.”
We can’t be sure just yet, and even so, I don’t really think lifting their ban on cryptocurrency advertising is a step in this direction. If Facebook wanted to take over Coinbase, they would do it anyway, regardless of their own advertising restrictions because really, it’s not like Coinbase would be built into Facebook as a social network, they two entities would remain separate, it’s just that Facebook would be making some extra money from Coinbase fee’s. In theory at least.
Other implications of this could also involve Ripple XRP, the currency fighting to get a listing on Coinbase. With Ethereum Classic next to be added, we know Coinbase are looking to generate more listings, but as we know, problems surrounding Ripple’s ownership of XRP is calling XRP into question. A security-based question that is stopping XRP getting that shining listing.
If Facebook take over Coinbase however, could they make changes that would see Ripple XRP listed on the exchange? Moreover, if Facebook take over Coinbase and decide to make their own cryptocurrency, would it become a rival of Ripple XRP and thus, could Facebook ensure that Ripple XRP never sees a Coinbase listing?
This is all speculation, obviously. But, it is worth thinking about.