Cryptocurrency companies, exchanges, and individuals are suing Google, Facebook, and Twitter for banning their ads from January 30, 2018, to the present. A class-action lawsuit filed by Sydney law firm JPB Liberty.
Plaintiffs allege that their business suffered significant losses when three social media giants, which control over 65% of the global advertising market, banned cryptocurrency ads in 2018 within few weeks one after another.
Google then lifted its ban on advertising on regulated exchanges in Japan and the US in September 2018. However, the plaintiffs argue that there weren't many regulated crypto exchanges at that time.
Australia's Section 45 of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act prohibits any "arrangement or concerted action that aims, effect, or is likely to result in a significant weakening of competition in the marketplace, even if such conduct does not meet the stricter definitions of other anti-competitive actions such as like cartels. "
The class-action lawsuit will seek damages for victims around the world from crypto industry companies to ordinary investors. The ban on crypto advertising has brought down hundreds of billions of dollars in crypto markets. Trading volumes of crypto exchanges also fell 60-90%.
Most interestingly, anyone who had cryptocurrencies in their wallets as of January 30, 2018, can join the lawsuit. The lawsuit is currently being filed for $ 600 million but could rise to $ 300 billion when ordinary investors join the class action lawsuit.
