From April 23, Google will implement more strict advertising policies for cryptocurrency services in Europe, aligning with the Crypto-Asets markets (MICA) markets.
Thanks to the new rules, the announcement indicates that all advertisers promoting crypto exchanges and portfolios will have to be authorized under the regulations of military asset service service or national level (CASP).
According to the update of Google’s policy for March 24, cryptographic advertisers should also be certified by Google and comply with any other legal requirement in each EU country. Politics will apply to most EU member states, especially in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands.
Although this decision aims to eliminate fraud and improve consumer protection, some participants in industry have a more complex vision of the problem.
According to reports, Bitget’s legal director, Hon NG, said that the update would help eliminate unregulated players and prevent fraud such as those during the ICO 2023 boom before the industry engages.
NG warned that strict application could however create gaps in the application, allowing fraud to occur and place compliance costs on small players.
The capital requirements of Mica – from € 15,000 to € 150,000 – and the need for Google certification and regulatory certification will be particularly problematic for startups.
According to Mattan Erder, the Advocate General of Orbs, the policy consists more in protecting Google from legal responsibility than the protection of investors. It also expects the Mica, which comes into force in December 2024, will only benefit the greatest players, and small exchanges will find it difficult to remain competitive.
However, violations would not result in the suspension of the immediate account, because Google intends to give advertisers at least seven days to remedy any violation. Policy has survived the application of the very extinct regulation of the Mica markets for cryptographic assets.
