The past 12 hours have been a psychological rollercoaster for bitcoin sentiment, with a comprehensive Google ad ban threatening to spark a sell-off, but major crypto banking news coming out of Barclays and Coinbase may help staunch the price plunge.
Google’s announcement late Tuesday sent bitcoin further down to just over $8,700 by 10:45am EST.
It’s been a rough ride…
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Google said it would ban all bitcoin and ICO ads by June, just days after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission warned traders against buying cryptocurrencies on exchanges that are not registered with the SEC.
Google will prohibit promotions of “Cryptocurrencies and related content, including but not limited to initial coin offerings, cryptocurrency exchanges, cryptocurrency wallets, and cryptocurrency trading advice.”
But Google’s move wasn’t just about cryptocurrency: The search giant is under significant pressure over advertising policy, and a host of other financial products saw ads banned, too.
And bitcoin has already survived Facebook’s similar ad ban in January.
Together, Google and Facebook accounted for more than 60 percent of digital ad spending in 2017. Now it’s time to pay the toll. Related: The Mysterious Crypto Billionaires Taking Over Puerto Rico
What crypto loses in this deal is access to audiences who operation on low-information, and some claim that online advertising hasn’t played a significant role in the majestic rise of cryptocurrencies.
While Wednesday morning could have been a nail in bitcoin’s coffin—it hasn’t been the sudden plunge to zero, or the final bursting of the bubble that many expected. Big things are brewing for cryptocurrency, and its infiltration of global banking is seen to be making headway.
But while bitcoin is losing on the Google ad news, a crypto deal with Barclays bank could have a longer-term bull effect.
Coinbase, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges in the world, has reportedly sealed a relationship with UK-headquartered Barclays—the first big UK lender to jump on the cryptocurrency wagon in a very big way.
By setting up an account at Barclays, Coinbase’s UK customers will be able to process their crypto deposits and withdrawals with ease. It’s a major victory at time when regulatory authorities around the world are talking about crackdowns and warning customers away.
Two years ago, Barclays was also the first bank to accept bitcoin.
Cryptocurrencies are volatile at the best of times, and there are no signs that Google just destroyed bitcoin.
In the meantime, the volatility of crypto is turning it into one of the polarizing things in the financial world, with half of the divide calling for the bubble to pop and bitcoin to plunge to zero, and the other half calling a rally to as much as $100,000.
Most recently, Allianz Global, the investment arm of Europe’s biggest insurer, said cryptocurrency was worthless, and the bubble will definitely pop.
But bitcoin—even if it is only the gateway drug to future cryptocurrencies—isn’t going to disappear that easily, and it’s likely going to take more than a Google ad ban to bring it down.
By David Craggen for Safehaven.com
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