Facebook on Tuesday, reversed its earlier cryptocurrency ad ban, allowing some pre-approved advertisers to promote crypto businesses and services on its website.

Interested advertisers will have to go through an application process to determine their eligibility, the social networking website said in a statement.

The Menlo Park, California-based company, which had banned all crypto ads on the service back in January, said interested advertisers may have to show Facebook “licenses they have obtained, whether they are traded on a public stock exchange, and other relevant public background on their business” in order to receive permission to run crypto ads.

As cryptocurrencies have become more popular, scammers are increasingly using Facebook and Google to promote shady cryptocurrencies and exchanges and defraud customers. Twitter and Snapchat have also banned crypto ads on their sites.

Facebook imposed the ban around the height of the bitcoin price surge, to prevent people from promoting “financial products and services frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices.”

First Published:Jun 27, 2018 1:40 PM IST