Meta (formerly Facebook) has expanded the eligibility of advertisers to run crypto ads on its platforms by increasing the number of regulatory licenses it accepts, the company said in an announcement on December 1. Notably, Indian crypto exchanges are unlikely to benefit from this change because the list of accepted licenses does not include any issued by Indian authorities. India's absence from the list doesn't come as a surprise because cryptocurrency remains an unregulated space in India. The government is looking to introduce the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, during the winter session of the parliament, which is ongoing, but there is still confusion as to whether the government will outright ban cryptocurrencies or take a more lenient approach. Commenting on this policy change, Nikhil Varma, Managing Partner at Miglani Varma and Co, told MediaNama: "This may be a progressive step for the global cryptocurrency industry at large but does not change anything for India. The Damocles sword in the form of the impending crypto legislation still hangs low, and nothing could be said about how cryptocurrency advertisement, or cryptocurrency itself, will pan out going forward." Support MediaNama's endeavor to enable meaningful conversations around technology policy in India. Subscribe here. Why is Meta making this change? "We’re doing this because the cryptocurrency landscape has continued to mature and stabilize in recent years and has seen more government regulations that are setting clearer rules for their industry," Meta said in its announcement. "These changes will help to make our policy in this…
