Facebook bans ads for cryptocurrencies

WASHINGTON: Facebook says it is banning all ads related to cryptocurrencies in an effort to fight scams.

The social media giant said it is barring ads for "financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, such as binary options, initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency ."

Initial coin offerings or ICOs are a way for companies to raise funds by selling investors cryptographic assets. Fraud is common in the world of red hot digital currencies such as bitcoin.

This week, for instance, the US Securities and Exchange Commission shut down an initial coin offering by a Texas company called AriseBank.

AriseBank was accused of relying on celebrity endorsers such as boxer Evander Holyfield and social media to cheat investors out of $600 million of its goal of $1 billion for a currency it called "AriseCoin."