The Crypto community has driven itself into a tizzy, thanks to an announcement by search engine and online ad revenue giant Google that it will implement a ban on all crypto-related ads starting in June of 2018. The usual culprits of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) have been running rampant, causing crypto markets to tumble in the meantime, but the truth is that Google’s crypto crackdown isn’t going to work. In fact, it’s just evidence of how dead serious the world is taking Cryptocurrency.

The Beginning of the End? Nowhere Even Close

The disruptive, revolutionary power of blockchain-based technologies has taken the world by storm — and everyone has taken notice. Decentralized, unregulated, trustless systems of finance that are independent of any central bank or governmental authority are, frankly, terrifying to those at the top of current socio-political power structures, and these individuals and organizations will do anything and everything they can to stop the spread of cryptocurrency before it democratizes finance to the point where their control ultimately slips. This is, of course, the true impetus behind Google’s decision to sideline crypto-related ads.

FUDdites that are calling this decision the beginning of the end for the primacy of cryptocurrency  are, of course, severely misguided. Other, similar bans have already been attempted by influential organizations only to have little to no effect. In January of 2018, social media giant Facebook made the decision to ban all crypto-related ads unilaterally in an effort, the company said, to reduce Facebook users’ exposure to scams and predatory initial coin offerings (ICOs). This came as quite a shock after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg went on record praising the decentralized nature of blockchain technology, proving perhaps that Facebook takes a less-than-enthusiastic approach to cryptocurrency if it begins to threaten its own bottom line.

Yet despite the current Facebook ad ban and the incoming Google one, the juggernaut that is cryptocurrency is unlikely to come grinding to a halt any time soon. Even any slowdowns are likely to be temporary at best, despite individuals and organizations spreading FUD. They do so not because of any concern for their fellow man but instead to eliminate a potential competitor — so far, only those that are most liable to be subject to negative impacts such as lost market share are all that interested in stopping the spread of cryptocurrency.

Still, it’s Likely to Get Worse Before it Gets Better

However, it’s time for some honesty here when it comes to the struggles that cryptocurrency will be facing in the future. The bare truth of it is that the existing power structures of the world — the ones that are most invested in seeing cryptocurrency fail — have a number of resources at their control to devote to such an endeavor. This means that there are likely to be additional attacks against crypto in the future, both from the private sector and from public attempts to regulate digital currencies.

In the short term, this means that things are likely to get worse for crypto enthusiasts before they get better. FUD is going to encourage a bear market that will lead to more FUD as prices continue to tumble, much to the delight of oligarchs and plutocrats everywhere. Fighting a head-on war with high-powered, deep-pocketed individuals and organizations isn’t going to be possible, which means cryptocurrency will have to pivot and adopt different strategies to survive and thrive while under attack in the very near future.

If there is one approach that is likely to be effective against institutionalized attempts to reduce or eliminate cryptocurrency’s viability, it is almost assuredly guerrilla warfare. Much how the Vietcong contributed to the defeat of US forces during the Vietnam War and the mujahadeen aided the defeat of the Russian Army during the Soviet-Afghan War, asymmetrical conflict will be the best way for crypto to survive and eventually prevail. With the decentralized nature of blockchain tech in general analogous to rebel cells of The Resistance, cryptocurrency will be nearly impossible to snuff out completely by those who wish to see it gone.

So What Can You Do?

Talking about guerrilla tactics and resistance cells is all well and good, but how does that translate into actions that everyday crypto investors and enthusiasts like you and me can actually take? Aside from understanding cryptocurrency uses, there’s one deceptively simple strategy: holding on to your crypto investments come Hell or high water.

Commonly referred to as Hold On for Dear Life (HODL), this tactic is, of course, not for the faint of heart. However, it’s the only one that will prevent FUD from taking hold in the hearts and minds of crypto enthusiasts. It’s hard to keep in mind that markets fluctuate and recover all the time while in the midst of a precipitous drop such as the Bitcoin bubble burst of late 2017, especially if you’re  heavily invested and you’re seeing the value of your investment plummet like a stone. It’s only in taking a long-term approach that we’ll be able to weather these attacks on cryptocurrency, prove that we won’t be swayed by FUD, and that it’s by the will of the people that cryptocurrency is here to stay.

The post Can’t Stop The Signal: Why Google’s Incoming Cryptocurrency-Related Ad Crackdown Won’t Work appeared first on Retainly Stories.