Google will start with the enforcement of stricter promoting guidelines for cryptocurrency services in Europe as a part of the markets as a part of crypto-assets (Mica), the corporate recently said in a suggestion update.
The move might be a “double-edged sword” for the regulation, which could prevent initial coin offers (ICO) fraud cases (coin offers), but, based on legal advisors, endanger further enforcement gaps.
From April 23, the cryptocurrency exchanges and the crypto letter promoting in Europe have to be licensed based on Europe MICA framework or based on the CAP regulation (Crypto Asset Service Provider).
Crypto advertisers on Google must also meet the “local legal requirements”, including “restrictions or requirements on the national level that transcend mica” and, based on an announcement by Google Policy, “by Google” on March twenty fourth.
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, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands,, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
Violations of the rules “won’t result in immediate account recordings”, since a warning is issued no less than seven days before the exposure of the account, added Google's guidelines.
The political shift follows the implementation of the Mica framework in December 2024, which introduced the primary comprehensive regulatory structure for digital assets within the European Union.
Google's guideline thought to be a double -edged sword
According to Hon NG, Chief Legal Officer at Bitget, Google's latest crypto promoting requirements contain a “double-edged sword” for crypto regulation.
“On the one hand, they improve the protection of the investor by filtering out unregulated actors,” he told CoinTelegraph.
“The strict AML/CFT and transparency requirements of the Mica framework create a safer ecosystem that reduces fraud like ICO fraud cases that the industry troubled before 2023,” he said.
However, NG warned that politics might be “excessively restrictive” without flexible implementation, especially for the reason that transitional periods for national licensing vary between jurisdiction.
Since Google's transition period for national licenses varies based on the country, this may result in “temporary enforcement gaps” and even greater challenges in relation to compliance costs, said NG and added:
“Smaller stock exchanges can must cope with the capital requirements of Mica (15,000–150,000 euros) or the bureaucratic hurdle for double certification (each Google and native regulatory authorities). These measures are positive for trust, but must need flexibility to avoid suffocating innovations.”
Other industry observers don’t see this as a fundamental change for Google or Investor Protection.
The updates may be more geared towards “protecting Google from liability than the protection of investors themselves”, based on Mattan Erder, General Counsel at Layer-3 Decentralized Blockchain network balls.
“According to the regulations, all effects of this variation of Google are. If it seems that the Mica or CASP registration is stressful, expensive and only accessible to large players, smaller players could have great difficulties in these jurisdiction,” Erder told CoinTelegraph.
