Although as our newly posted editorial suggests, it doesn't seem like anything is going to stop the massive price hikes to GPUs caused by cryptocurrency mining, Google is at least doing its part to halt it. It's announced that it will no longer allow adverts for cryptocurrencies or their initial coin offerings (ICOs) on any of its advertising networks or platforms.
The advertising restrictions will begin in June, which will mean you'll no longer see adverts for new coins, new tokens, or existing platforms like exchanges and direct trade systems. You'll also no longer see any mentions of new types of wallets, or even videos and articles discussing trading advice. For all intents and purposes, cryptocurrencies will not exist, as far as Google's ad networks are concerned. That means nothing on YouTube, Google Plus, Gmail -- and all of Google's other services, as well as its expanded Adsense network.
This comes just a few months after Facebook made a similar move to restrict the exposure of cryptocurrencies on its platform, which PCGamesN at least hopes will, alongside the new Google ban, help restrict the interest in cryptocurrencies enough to ease off on the mining boom. At least a little.
That seems optimistic to this writer -- the cat is very much out of the bag there -- but Bitcoin and other currencies have lost a lot of value in the past few days, reminding us that their future is far from certain.
How do you think Google's move will affect cryptocurrencies long term, if at all?
