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Hold onto your ad budgets, crypto marketers – Google is about to slam the regulatory brakes in Europe. Starting April 23, new restrictions will come into effect that may send some crypto advertisers back to the whiteboard. Announced on March 24, the tech giant revealed it’s introducing stricter requirements for cryptocurrency advertising across the EU, and it’s not just about fine print anymore.

Google Crypto Ad Rules in Europe: MiCA or Bye-Bye

From this date forward, crypto exchanges and wallet developers will need to be fully licensed in accordance with the EU’s shiny new Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. As a fallback, companies can also be registered as a Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) – in other words, you better be legit or forget about getting that Google Ads slot.

But wait, there’s more!

In addition to MiCA compliance, advertisers must also meet the legal requirements of their respective EU countries and pass Google’s certification gauntlet. It’s like applying for Hogwarts but for crypto bros. 🪄

Warnings Before the Guillotine

To be fair, Google isn’t going full dictator. Violations won’t lead to instant account bans. Instead, advertisers will be given at least seven days’ notice before any sanctions are enforced.

So there’s time to panic, rewrite, and panic some more.

Community Reaction? Mixed, of Course.

As always in crypto, opinions are more divided than a DAO on governance reform.

Bitget’s Chief Legal Officer, Xun He, gave Google’s new policy the thumbs up, claiming the measures will “enhance investor protection” by filtering out the sketchy unregulated players – you know, the ones who think “whitepaper” is just a suggestion.

According to He, the MiCA rules are much-needed armor against the kind of scams that ran rampant during the golden (or should we say fool’s gold?) ICO era.

On the other side of the ring, Orbs’ Chief Legal Advisor Mattan Erder is a bit more skeptical. He suggests that Google is less concerned about saving investors and more focused on shielding itself from legal blowback. And honestly? He might have a point.

MiCA: Regulation or Barrier?

There’s also a growing concern that the high cost of MiCA and CASP registration could create a playground only for the crypto elite, while smaller startups may be priced out or forced to take their tokens and go home.

In short: Big Fish get fatter, Small Fish get fried.

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Roman B.

I have 6 years of writing experience on several leading websites dealing with cryptocurrencies and other investments. I have been in the Web3 sector for a similar amount of time and have collaborated on several projects from NFT to P2E. My previous experiences: Business2Community.com, TradingPlatforms.com, CryptoSvet.