Facebook blocks Origin Kebabs Bitcoin payments ad

Australian fast food chain Origin Kebabs is now accepting Bitcoin payments in four of its Queensland stores, with more set to follow in the near future.

The likes of Binance Coin, Ethereum and Litecoin are also accepted and the venture has integrated Lightning Network functionality in conjunction with blockchain platform TravelbyBit, which is partly owned by Binance.

The latter entered Australia in March with the launch of Binance Lite, meaning that people can exchange small amounts of cash for Bitcoin at over 1,300 news agencies, and spend at Origin Kebabs.

Origin Kebabs General Manager Burhan Göktas comments: “After learning about crypto, I knew I had to make it a part of our business. It’s a no-brainer to sign up with TravelbyBit. I am very excited that we are going to be the first to adopt BNB payments at Point of Sale, following the launch of the new Binance Chain.”

Facebook says no

The company wanted to promote the move on Facebook, but, alas, the social media giant wasn’t having it.

“So we tried to boost our “now we accept Bitcoins” post and this is what FB has to say about it,” the former said in a post, flagging up an alert in which Facebook took issue with its ad because it “promotes financial products and services such as binary options and initial coin offerings that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices.”

We’re not talking about an ICO here, so go figure. One Facebook follower suggested the block was down to the use of the word Bitcoin. “Facebook autoflagged it, thinking you were a scammy binary option. Add the text to the image and it will get approved, no questions asked”.

‘Use ‘virtual currency’ instead,” another said.

Facebook did not respond to our request for comment.