Google will begin enforcing stricter advertising policies for cryptocurrency services in Europe under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, the company said in a recent policy update.
The move could be a โdouble-edged swordโ for regulation that may prevent initial coin offering (ICO) frauds, but risks further enforcement gaps, according to legal advisers.
Starting April 23, cryptocurrency exchanges and crypto wallet advertising in Europe must be licensed under Europeโs MiCA framework or under the Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) regulation.
Crypto advertisers on Google will also have to comply with โlocal legal requirements,โ including โnational-level restrictions or requirements beyond MiCAโ and be โcertified by Google,โ according to a March 24 Google policy announcement.
The new advertising policy will apply to most European countries, including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
Policy violations โwonโt lead to immediate account suspensions,โ as a warning will be issued at least seven days before any account suspensions, added Googleโs policy update.
The policy shift follows the implementation of the MiCA framework in December 2024, which introduced the first comprehensive regulatory structure for digital assets across the European Union.
Related: EU MiCA rules pose โsystemicโ banking risks for stablecoins โ Tether CEO
Googleโs policy seen as double-edged sword
Googleโs new crypto advertising requirements present a โdouble-edged swordโ for crypto regulation, according to Hon Ng, chief legal officer at Bitget.
โOn one hand, they do enhance investor protection by filtering out unregulated actors,โ he told Cointelegraph.
โThe MiCA frameworkโs strict AML/CFT and transparency requirements create a safer ecosystem, reducing scams like the ICO frauds that plagued the industry pre-2023,โ he said.
However, Ng warned the policy could be โoverly restrictiveโ without flexible implementation, especially since transition periods for national licensing vary across jurisdictions.
Since Googleโs transition period for national licenses varies by country, this may create โtemporary gaps in enforcement,โ and even bigger challenges around compliance costs, Ng said, adding:
โSmaller exchanges may struggle with MiCAโs capital requirements (15,000โ150,000 euros) or the bureaucratic hurdle of dual certification (both Google and local regulators). These measures are a net positive for trust but need flexibility to avoid stifling innovation.โ
Related: Most EU banks fail to meet rising crypto investor demand โ Survey
Other industry watchers donโt see this as a fundamental change for Google or investor protection.
The updates may be more oriented toward โprotecting Google from liability than protecting the investors themselves,โ according to Mattan Erder, general counsel at layer-3 decentralized blockchain network Orbs.
โAny impact of this change in Googleโs policy is downstream of the regulations themselves. If MiCA or CASP registration turns out to be burdensome, expensive and only accessible to big players, then smaller players will have a lot of difficulty competing in these jurisdictions,โ Erder told Cointelegraph.
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