Bitcoin prices rallied a bit Monday after approaching $7,000 amid rumors of an impending Twitter ban on cryptocurrency advertising.
The price of one bitcoin token (BTC) hovered at $8,324 as of this writing, up 1.57% from 24 hours earlier. Bitcoin’s price hit a low of $7,336 on Sunday before staging a tentative comeback, according to CoinDesk.
Not surprisingly, the BTC rally fueled a similar uptick among all 10 of the top 10 most valuable cryptocurrencies by market cap. Ethereum and Neo both posted price gains of more than 3%, while Tron (TRX) soared 9.7%.
The tepid recovery is welcome relief after the entire cryptocurrency market was slammed last week when search engine giant Google announced it will ban crypto ads starting in June. (See more: Google Bans Advertising Related To Cryptocurrency Products.)
Rumors of Twitter Crypto Ban Roils Market
The Google ban followed a similar move by social media juggernaut Facebook, which banned crypto ads in January 2018.
Rumors are now swirling that Twitter could enact a similar ban on its massive platform. Sources told Sky News:
Twitter is preparing to prohibit a range of cryptocurrency advertisements amid looming regulatory intervention in the sector.
Sky News understands that the new advertising policy will be implemented in two weeks and currently stands to prohibit advertisements for initial coin offerings (ICOs), token sales, and cryptocurrency wallets globally.
Twitter may also ban all ads for cryptocurrency exchanges, with some limited exceptions, when the policy is launched.
Twitter has not confirmed the rumors, but a ban wouldn’t be surprising, since Twitter has already suspended the accounts of online scammers who posed as celebrities to steal people’s cryptocurrencies.
Tesla billionaire Elon Musk revealed he was a victim of such an impersonation and reported it to Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. (See more: Elon Musk Reveals How Much Bitcoin He Owns.)
Observers say the ban by Google, Facebook, and potentially by Twitter could have a chilling effect on the market. “Much of crypto demand is retail, so this may negatively impact demand,” Joe DiPasquale, CEO of BitBull Capital, told CNBC.
DiPasquale added that the high cost of bitcoin mining has also put pressure on its price. It now costs about $8,000 to mine one BTC token, which is roughly equivalent to its market price, so miners are basically breaking even. (See more: Bitcoin Miners No Longer Turning a Profit.)
“There’s less incentive for miners to continue to keep machines on unless they are in a lower-cost energy area or have a way of producing at less than cost,” DiPasquale said.
Twitter Billionaire Jack Dorsey Backs Blockchain
But not all is doom and gloom, since Twitter billionaire Jack Dorsey is apparently bullish on bitcoin, as evidenced by his financial support of blockchain startup Lightning Labs.
The Silicon Valley-based Lightning Labs, which aims to speed up bitcoin transaction times, has received $2.5 million in seed funding from tech luminaries, including:
- Litecoin creator Charlie Lee
- Square Inc. and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey
- Former PayPal COO David Sacks
- BitGo CTO Ben Davenport
- Eventbrite co-founder Kevin Hartz
- Venture capital firm Digital Currency Group
- Robinhood co-founder Vlad Tenev.
Granted, $2.5 million is not a whole lot of money for a group with such deep pockets, but it’s still a vote of confidence by some of the smartest people in fintech that they believe in bitcoin and blockchain, the technology that undergirds crypto. (See more: Billionaire Jack Dorsey Bets on Blockchain Startup.)
Investing in cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”) is highly risky and speculative, and this article is not a recommendation by Investopedia or the writer to invest in cryptocurrencies or ICOs. Since each individual’s situation is unique, a qualified professional should always be consulted before making any financial decisions. Investopedia makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy or timeliness of the information contained herein. As of the date this article was written, the author owns no cryptocurrencies.
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