The UK Authorities recently issued an enforcement notice and sent it to over 50 cryptocurrency companies as part of a regulatory crackdown on promotional and marketing issues in the industry.
The Advertising Standards Authority said on Tuesday it has told firms to review their ads and make sure they comply with the rules. They also threatened firms with sanctions if the ads they posted still violated the standards.
In its notice to the company, the regulator provided guidance stating that advertisers must emphasize that cryptocurrency is something that is not regulated by the UK government. At the same time, firms should not urge people to buy bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies in their ads let alone create a ‘FOMO’ on an investment.
However, the authority body (ASA) did not provide details of the name of the company or crypto firm involved. Nonetheless, they informed that they had previously banned advertising from crypto platforms such as Coinbase and pizza chain Papa John’s for fear it could confuse consumers.
“This is a priority issue for us at the moment and we have recently banned some crypto advertising as it was found to be misleading to consumers and socially irresponsible,” the ASA said in a statement Tuesday.
Global Digital Finance, an industry body that encompasses crypto exchanges such as Coinbase and Bitfinex has protested the action from the authorities by sending a letter to U.K. Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and stating several other alternatives on how the crypto market should be regulated.
