Crypto ads policy: what Meta and Google require
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Meta asks for prior written permission and a recognized license for crypto trading products. Google asks for certification and a licensed provider, country by country, and prohibits whole product groups that Meta lets through with permission. Both pages below were read for this article.
Crypto ads policy on Meta and Google, product by product
| Product or site | Meta | |
|---|---|---|
| Exchanges and trading platforms | permission and license | certification, licensed provider, approved countries only |
| Wallets that also buy, sell, swap or stake | permission | software wallets: certification, licensed provider |
| Wallets that only store | exempt | hardware wallets: certification, no license |
| Lending and borrowing | permission | prohibited (crypto loans) |
| Mining | software: permission, hardware: exempt | mining hardware sellers: no certification |
| Education and news | exempt | allowed without investment advice, tips, odds, calculators or trend analysis |
| NFTs | exempt | NFT games with consumable items allowed, NFT-staking games paying real value prohibited |
| ICOs | prohibited (financial products page) | prohibited |
| Affiliate and aggregator sites | permission | prohibited when they aggregate or compare issuers |
Sources: Meta, cryptocurrency products and services and Meta, financial and insurance products; Google, cryptocurrencies and related products. Checked: October 2026.
Meta crypto ads: written permission and licenses
Meta requires prior written permission for exchanges and trading platforms, including spot, margin and futures trading, for borrowing and lending platforms, for wallets that also buy, sell, swap or stake, and for mining software. The route is a recognized regulatory license or registration submitted through the Authorizations and Verifications tab in Meta Business Suite. The page lists accepted licenses by country: for example AUSTRAC registration or an ASIC license in Australia, FinCEN registration or a New York BitLicense in the USA, FCA authorisation in the UK, FINTRAC registration in Canada and an FSA registration in Japan. The change log shows entries from Mar 24, 2023 to Apr 15, 2026.
What Meta exempts from crypto permission
No written permission is needed for tax services for crypto companies, for events, education or news that do not offer crypto products, for blockchain news, for blockchain products that are not virtual currencies, such as NFTs, for wallets that only store crypto, and for mining hardware such as GPU rigs. Meta’s financial products page separately prohibits ICOs and binary options.
Google crypto ads: certification and licensed providers
Exchanges and software wallets can be advertised only by licensed providers whose accounts Google has certified, and only in approved countries. The license depends on the country: MiCA authorization in the EU, FINMA in Switzerland, FCA registration in the UK, FinCEN registration plus a state license in the USA, an FSA registration in Japan, and so on down a list on the page. A country that is not on the list cannot be targeted. The page says certification applications move to the Google Ads account starting June 2026.
What Google prohibits in crypto ads everywhere
Prohibited regardless of location: ICOs, DeFi trading protocols and promotion of buying, selling or trading crypto, including ICO presales, crypto loans, token liquidity pools, unhosted software wallets and unregulated dApps. Also prohibited are real-money gambling destinations, NFT-staking games that pay out real-world value and social casino games that reward NFTs.
Affiliate and aggregator sites in crypto ads
This row matters most to media buyers. Meta lists soliciting investment in exchanges, trading platforms or other fintech platforms, affiliate and aggregator sites included, among the cases that need written permission. Google prohibits destinations that aggregate or compare crypto issuers, including trading signal sites, investment advice and aggregator or affiliate sites with broker reviews.
Warnings and unsupported countries on Google
Google says violations do not lead to an immediate account suspension without warning: a warning comes at least 7 days before a suspension. Targeting a location that is not approved for these products means the ads cannot run.
Crypto ads on a BlueWave agency account
Crypto and finance are among the gray verticals open on all six platforms at BlueWave, and for them, as for gambling, we issue accounts where the platform’s permission is already in place. Permission is issued per country: you name the geo, and we pick an account with permission for it. We do not promise approval of every creative. After a ban a replacement arrives in 30–60 minutes of your report, 24/7, and the balance moves within 1 hour of your report. Platforms are listed in Platforms.
For terms on your platform, vertical and monthly top-up amount, message @bluewave_mngr.
