Google to ban ads on cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings

The US search engine giant will son stop advertisements promoting cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ripple under wider efforts to crack down on the marketing of a new breed of high-risk financial products.

Google Logo (Picture alliance/dpa/O.Spata)
Alphabet Inc's Google said on Wednesday it will ban advertisements for unregulated or speculative financial products like binary options, cryptocurrency and financial spread betting among others.

"Improving the ads experience across the web, whether that's removing harmful ads or intrusive ads, will continue to be a top priority for us," said Scott Spencer, director of sustainable ads, after the company announced the updates to its policy.

Read more: Despite bad press, Japanese still snapping up cryptocurrencies

Google rival Facebook took a similar step in January, leaving the world's two largest internet ad sellers out of reach of the emerging digital currency sector.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, pared an advance of about 2 percent after Google's announcement. Rival coins Ripple and Ether also pared gains.

Read more: Blockchain the future for remittance payments?

At the moment, Google queries for terms like "binary options" and "buy bitcoin" produce four ads at the top of the results. Some aggressive businesses are exploiting a loophole by purposely misspelling words like "bitcoin" in their ads. A Google spokeswoman said the company's policies will try to anticipate workarounds like this.

Bitcoin (picture-alliance/dpa/J. Kalaene)
BITCOIN: WHERE IT CAME FROM AND WHERE IT'S HEADED
Good time to start a currency
Introduced in 2009, Bitcoin was the world's first decentralized digital currency. It quickly gained traction amid lingering uncertainty in the wake of financial crisis. Designed to be as rare as gold, Bitcoin was created to have a maximum of 21 million "coins." Initially worth just a fraction of a cent, by February 2011 the currency had gained parity with the US dollar, then it really took off.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk (Reuters/AAP/B. Macmahon)
BITCOIN: WHERE IT CAME FROM AND WHERE IT'S HEADED
An anonymous founder
The name Satoshi Nakamoto is synonymous with Bitcoin. It is said to be the alias for an unknown IT whizz who invented the cryptocurrency. But despite claiming to be a 30-something Japanese national, it is generally thought that several computer science experts created the technology behind the digital coin. One rumor even suggested that Tesla chief Elon Musk is the real Satoshi, which he denied.

Bitcoin sign (DW/M. Sevcenko)
BITCOIN: WHERE IT CAME FROM AND WHERE IT'S HEADED
So no coins then?
Instead of being printed like dollars and euros, each Bitcoin is created on a global network of computers and verified by the system rather than a bank. There are no transaction fees. The smallest amount you can buy is a "Satoshi" or one-hundred-millionth of a Bitcoin. Purchases can be made anonymously and even at digital currency ATMs. When you buy Bitcoin, it is often stored in a digital wallet.

Bitcoin Mine (Getty Images/AFP/M. Zmeyev)
BITCOIN: WHERE IT CAME FROM AND WHERE IT'S HEADED
Complex puzzles
To ensure that not too much Bitcoin comes into circulation, a process called mining was created where blocks of transactions could only be processed once a difficult math problem was solved by geeks. The puzzles are becoming so complex that bigger and bigger computers are being utilized to decipher them. That's led to concerns about the amount of electricity used to handle Bitcoin transactions.

Islamic State fighters in Syria (picture-alliance/Zuma Press/M. Dairieh)
BITCOIN: WHERE IT CAME FROM AND WHERE IT'S HEADED
Are Bitcoin fortunes legit?
Due to its anonymous nature, Bitcoin's success is likely being fueled by organized crime, including money laundering and the purchase of illegal goods. The currency is also being targeted by cybercriminals. A recent hack blamed on North Korea forced a South Korean digital currency exchange into bankruptcy. Reports suggest the "Islamic State" armed group used Bitcoin to receive funds to buy arms.

Ethereum digital currency (picture-alliance/NurPhoto/J. Arriens)
BITCOIN: WHERE IT CAME FROM AND WHERE IT'S HEADED
Bitcoin leads, others follow
Bitcoin is the largest of all the cryptocurrencies and its incredible rise has spawned many imitators. Other large digital cash creators include Ethereum, Zcash, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple and Litecoin. As of November 2017, their number had swelled to 1,324. Hundreds of others have attempted and failed to launch their own digital coins. The market is now coming under increasing scrutiny by regulators.

Bitcoin on a motherboard (Reuters/D. Ruvic)
BITCOIN: WHERE IT CAME FROM AND WHERE IT'S HEADED
Watch it skyrocket
2017 was a stratospheric year for Bitcoin. Worth close to $1,000 in January, some twelve months later it had scaled to an all-time high of $19,784. Despite much skepticism, the currency started to see serious interest from institutional investors. Two exchanges began Bitcoin futures trading, allowing speculators to punt on the incredible volatility in the value of the cryptocurrency.

Joseph E. Stiglitz Professor Columbia University (World Economic Forum/Benedikt von Loebell)
BITCOIN: WHERE IT CAME FROM AND WHERE IT'S HEADED
Warnings abound
From central banks to respected investors, almost the entire financial establishment warned of a massive Bitcoin bubble, which they said can only end in disaster for holders of the digital currency. Among them was Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz who said Bitcoin "ought to be outlawed." Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase labeled those who buy the currency "stupid."

Bitcoin logo (Imago/imagebroker/M. Weber)
BITCOIN: WHERE IT CAME FROM AND WHERE IT'S HEADED
The shape of things to come?
Just before Christmas 2017, Bitcoin saw a dramatic rally, topping out at nearly $20,000 before losing a third of its value in just five days. More intense volatility followed early in the New Year, only to be reversed when it plummeted by almost half. Are we in for an even bigger rollercoaster ride if Wall Street adopts Bitcoin in 2018? Or could another coin usurp the original currency disrupter

In a separate blog post Tuesday, Google said it took down 3.2 billion ads that violated its advertising policies in 2017, nearly double the number of ads it removed in 2016. Last year, for instance, Google pulled 79 million ads for luring online clickers to websites with malware.