Vodafone Promotes Bitcoin [BTC] Advertisement on Facebook

On 21st February, a Redditor posted an on r/cryptocurrency, a screenshot of an ad on Bitcoin promoted by Vodafone on Facebook in Germany. With the caption, “German Vodafone ad I saw today”.

Here’s a copy of the same:

The image reads, “Was soll Dir Oma zustecken, wen inn Zukunft alle mit dem Smartphone bezahlen?” 

Which translates to, “What should grandma gift you, when everyone is paying with their phones in the future?”

And the caption reads, “Gibt’s bald Bitcoins statt Tasgengeld” 

Translating, “Will there soon be Bitcoin instead of pocket money?”

To unfold a couple of things, this basically means that the German Vodafone is crypto-friendly. Despite the exit from the Libra association, Vodafone supports cryptocurrency or safe to say, Bitcoin. After things went south with Facebook’s Libra coin, many MNCs started leaving their newly found association. With Paypal, Visa, Mastercard leaving the game, many more were influenced. In Jan 2020, Britain’s Vodafone Group PLC released an official statement, stating that they left the entity that manages the Facebook Inc led an effort to launch Libra coin.

“We will continue to monitor the development of the Libra Association and do not rule out the possibility of future co-operation,” said a Vodafone spokesman. 

Although Vodafone is making the move to direct its resources and attention to M-Pesa, its own digital payments service, it has found ways to keep the crypto alive for its users. 

Additionally, it’s important to note that Facebook allows Bitcoin ads in Germany. From 2020, laws regarding cryptocurrencies were put to effect in Germany. The law requires digital asset custodians to be licensed. Every company that keeps the custody of crypto and targets German clients needs to claim it to Germany’s Financial Supervisory Authority [BaFin] with its intention to get a license.

Advertisements on Bitcoin were allowed due to the country’s friendly policies on cryptocurrencies. A sign of how some countries do not feel threatened by digital assets and their legitimate use cases. 

Recently, Boerse Stuttgart –  the second-largest stock exchange in Germany, ninth-largest in Europe obtained a provisional license from BaFin.The stock exchange is preparing to offer crypto custody services to institutional investors. Blocknox, a subsidiary of Boerse Stuttgart Digital Ventures, takes care of the custody of cryptocurrencies on an escrow basis.

With Bitcoin running in the current apparent Bullrun, more and more regulations are coming inline.