Recently, Facebook had announced that they were banning all advertisements related to Bitcoin and its derivatives. Meanwhile, at the beginning of January, rumors started circulating that Mark Zuckerberg’s company was considering creating their own cryptocurrency. There have also been rumors of a possible adoption of Litecoin and there is some evidence that this may be more than just speculation.
The Ban on Cryptocurrency Ads
With China and South Korea threatening to regulate the markets, Facebook has decided to follow suit and ban all ads related to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
In a statement on January 30th, 2018, Facebook announced that the ban would cover all advertisements aimed at “Promoting financial products and services that are frequently associated with deceptive or fraudulent activities such as binary options, ICOs and cryptocurrencies.”
The decision was justified by the fact that they want their users to discover products and services without having to worry about deception and fraud. As they stated in the press release, “Many companies advertise fundraisers for cryptocurrencies but still do not operate in good faith.”
However, this raises some questions about the Facebook’s interest in cryptocurrency since in a recent statement made by Zuckerberg himself, he says that he is carefully studying Blockchain technology to see how it can best serve the social media network.
The Litecoin-Facebook Theory
It all started back when Litecoin’s creator, Charlie Lee, sold off all his cryptocurrency while its price was on the rise. With Lee being the former engineering director at Coinbase, this act sparked allegations of a rigged market and insider trading. Lee refuted the claims by explaining that he simply wanted to avoid any potential conflicts of interest. Also, around this same time, Coinbase announced the recruitment of David Marcus as the messenger for its board of directors. And, with good reason, since Marcus has an in-depth knowledge of mobile payment development due to his previous experience working for PayPal.
According to Tom Luongo, an independent economic analyst, Litecoin possesses several benefits that a network such as Facebook could use to its advantage.
After having sold off his stock of Litecoin, Charlie Lee is now free to associate with whoever he wishes. And, with the recent interest shown by Zuckerberg, it’s easy to see why some people believe a future collaboration with Litecoin is possible.
Facebook’s ban on cryptocurrency advertisements could then be a way for the social media network to pave the way for an upcoming partnership with Litecoin.
The final piece of evidence came from a recent tweet by Charlie Lee that announced “a huge and unexpected surprise” for 2018.
