MailChimp clarifies its anti-ICO policy

Nobody wants to deal with ICOs. MailChimp, the popular mass mailing platform, has officially banned users who want to send emails about ICOs/token sales in its terms of use. They write in their legal policies page:

Also, we cannot allow businesses involved in any aspect of the sale, transaction, exchange, storage, marketing or production of cryptocurrencies, virtual currencies, and any digital assets related to an Initial Coin Offering, to use MailChimp to facilitate or support any of those activities.

However, in a Tweet, the company wrote that all cryptocurrency discussion was verboten. I’ve asked them to clarify their position and I will update it when I hear back.

Cryptocurrency-related information isn’t necessarily prohibited. It can be sent as long as the sender isn’t involved in the production, sale, exchange, storage, or marketing of cryptocurrencies. Our Acceptable Use Policy goes into more detail: https://t.co/JnHajBEUNk

— MailChimp (@MailChimp) March 29, 2018

Ultimately the big communications companies – Facebook, Twitter, and the like – are making these decisions in the dark. There is little SEC guidance on token sale marketing in specific but, given the scammy nature of most ICO marketing, they figure they’ll play it safe and ban it outright. This should a boon for services like Substack and apps like Sendy that strip away some of the MailChimp frills but are fairly agnostic when it comes to what you can post.

Ultimately this means two things will happen: first, legitimate, Wall Street-based token entities will begin using more expensive and vetted services and the ICO scammers will keep spamming us with ladies in bikinis.

You’re trying to defend censorship with semantics.

What is the difference between marketing and news? Who decides?

Why do you allow other scammy industries to use your product if that’s what you’re worried about?

Were you served SEC letter or made decision yourself?

— Pomp (@APompliano) March 29, 2018