Twitter may be the next to ban cryptocurrency ads

Twitter may soon join Facebook and Google in cracking down on ads for cryptocurrency-related products. Sky sources have claimed the social network will institute worldwide ban against ads for initial coin offerings, cryptocurrency wallets and token sales within the next two weeks. It might also ban ads for cryptocurrency exchanges with "some limited exceptions," according to the apparent leak.

The company told Engadget it had no comment at the moment.

While the tipsters didn't provide Twitter's exact reasoning, it's likely to be the same as for the site's peers: it doesn't want to knowingly put users at risk. Many ICOs and token sales have uncertain prospects, and in the worst cases are take-the-money-and-run scams. Meld that with the threat of hackers and there's a real chance investors will lose money, with little recourse if things go sour. More regulations are likely coming, but that's not much comfort to Twitter, Google and others who face pressure to protect their users while the crypto market remains a wild frontier.