Cryptocurrencies: British crackdown on “misleading” ads

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak intends to pass a law so that these advertisements are not only regulated by the British policeman of , but also by that of the markets (FCA).

British advertisements for cryptocurrencies must be regulated like traditional financial assets by the market policeman, said Tuesday the Treasury, which wants to protect consumers from the abuse of some of them.

“It is important that consumers do not see themselves selling products using misleading claims,” UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said in a statement.

However, he believes that “cryptoassets can bring exciting new opportunities, which give people new ways to trade and invest.”

The government intends to pass a law so that these advertisements are regulated by the British policeman of (archyde news standard authority, ASA), as is already the case, but also by that of the markets (Financial conduct authority, FCA).

In a country fond of investments and financial innovations (the Treasury estimates that 2.3 million people hold cryptoassets in the United Kingdom), campaigns on the subject are multiplying.

At the end of December, the ASA notably banned Arsenal from using two of its advertisements for its “fan token”, a cryptocurrency, and asked the football club not to “take irresponsible advantage of the lack of experience and consumer credulity.

In September, the FCA highlighted the danger posed by social media ads, including an ad by star Kim Kardashian a few months earlier on Instagram.

The United Kingdom is following in the footsteps of Spain, which on Monday gave its own financial policeman the power to regulate advertisements for cryptoassets.

Spanish advertisements must from mid-February clearly include the risks incurred by investors buying unregulated assets, and campaigns must be announced in advance to the authorities.

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