In light of the fact that "the cryptocurrency landscape has continued to mature and stabilize in recent years and has seen more government regulations that are setting clearer rules for their industry," Meta (formerly known as Facebook) announced that it is relaxing its cryptocurrency advertising policies.  

Effective December 1, 2021, Meta updated its eligibility criteria for running ads about cyptocurrency on Facebook by expanding the number of regulatory licenses it accepts from three to 27.  Now, in order run cryptocurrency advertising on Facebook, advertisers will simply be required to show that they have one of these licenses.  Facebook said that this change, "will help make our policy more equitable and transparent and allow for a greater number of advertisers, including small businesses, to use our tools and grow their business." 

In the United States, this means having a FinCEN MSB registration (from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) or a BitLIcense (from the New York State Department of Financial Services). 

According to Meta's updated cryptocurrency advertising policies, in order to run cryptocurrency-related advertising on Facebook, the following types of advertisers must have prior written permission: 

  • Platforms, software apps or products known as cryptocurrency exchanges and trading platforms. Examples include but are not limited to spot trading, margin trading, futures trading or other trading instruments that involve cryptocurrency assets;
  • Platforms, software apps or products that offer cryptocurrency lending and borrowing; 
  • Cryptocurrency wallets that also allow users to buy, sell, swap or stake their cryptocurrency tokens; and
  • Hardware and software for cryptocurrency mining.

Some cryptocurrency-related advertisers are not required to obtain permission to run advertising on Facebook, however, including advertising for tax services for cryptocurrency companies, events, education, and news related to cryptocurrency, blockchain technology news, services and products based on blockchain technology that are not a virtual currency, such as NFTs, and cryptocurrency wallets that allow users to store tokens without buying, selling, swapping, or staking them. 

Meta said, "Cryptocurrency continues to be an evolving space and we may refine these rules over time as the industry changes."