Bitcoin Daily: Facebook Bans Crypto Ads, SEC Halts ‘Illegal’ ICO

While interest in digital coins may be surging, Facebook is not interested in running cryptocurrency ads, according to Recode. The social networking site will ban ads that promote “financial products and services frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices.” Beyond its own app, Facebook will also ban such ads on Instagram and within its network of third-party apps.

As Facebook moves away from cryptocurrency, Japan’s largest messaging service is about to move into the digital currency trading business – among other ventures, Bloomberg reported. Line Corp. reportedly set up a financial holdings company with plans to offer products in Asian markets if regulators approve, according to sources who asked for anonymity in disclosing the confidential information.

In regulatory news, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has sent subpoenas to Bitfinex and Tether, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The subpoenas come as the company has not yet provided evidence of its holdings to the general public, nor has it had its books audited – but the firm stated it is not uncommon to receive notices from government agencies. “We routinely receive legal process from law enforcement agents and regulators conducting investigations,” said a spokesperson for both companies. “It is our policy not to comment on any such requests.”

News of Bitfinex and Tether’s subpoenas come as hackers are trying to transfer XEM coins lifted from Coincheck in a $530 million heist, Reuters reported. The NEM Foundation, which invented the XEM cryptocurrency, reportedly has discovered that the owner of the stolen coins has been trying to move them to six exchanges for possible sale.

And in Nigeria, government officials plan to look into regulating cryptocurrency, according to Bloomberg. The deputy president of the Nigerian Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, said that the country’s Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions will “investigate the viability of bitcoin as a form of investment, come up with recommendations on how to control its uses and trade.”

But even as governments clamp down on cryptocurrency trade, Samsung has reportedly been manufacturing hardware needed for bitcoin mining, The Next Web has reported. Samsung’s ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) chips will be distributed through a Chinese mining equipment provider that has yet to be named. According to reports, Samsung will begin manufacturing the chips by the end of this month.

And, in the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly filed a complaint against AriseBank, which is seeking to launch what might be the largest initial coin offering (ICO) in history, CNBC reported. In addition, the agency was able to freeze the company’s assets and those of its two co-founders through a court order.