Ireland’s advertising standards watchdog says it is monitoring developments in other countries after British authorities unveiled new regulations aimed at curbing misleading advertising for cryptocurrencies this week.
Under the new UK regime, details of which were made public on Tuesday, the promotion of risky crypto-assets like Bitcoin or Dogecoin and crypto exchanges apps where investors can buy and trade coins like Crypto.com and Coinbase, will now be subject to UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) advertising rules. It means that ads for crypto will be treated the same marketing for other financial products such as shares and insurance.
Cryptocurrencies are digital assets and unlike normal currencies, there is no centralized system for keeping track of and verifying transactions made using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Dogecoin. Instead, transactions in crypto are logged by users across a global network of computers using cryptography.
Advertising and promotion of crypto-assets and exchange platforms by influencers, celebrities and sports stars have become increasingly common in parallel with the growing popularity of the asset class over recent years. But across the EU, concerns are beginning to emerge around advertising campaigns that many regulators believe are under-selling the risk associated with the unregulated asset class.
The Central Bank of Ireland is responsible for the regulation of advertising relating to financial products and services by regulated financial firms only. However, largely because crypto products are currently unregulated in Ireland and across the European Union, the ads currently fall under the remit of the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI).
Two complaints related to adverts promoting a ‘meme-coin’ called Floki Inu, named after Tesla founder Elon Musk’s pet dog, which featured on Dublin Bus sidings last year. Like its predecessor Dogecoin, Floki Inu’s “status as a meme-coin is based on it having no intrinsic value”, reported Aaron Rogan, “but speculation is being pushed by online jokes and internet forums urging people to invest”.
A spokesperson for ASAI said all four crypto advertising-related complaints remain under review.
“The ASAI’s code contains both general rules relating to truthfulness and specific rules related to financial advertising,” the spokesperson added.
“We are aware that there is increasing concern in other jurisdictions about the advertising for cryptocurrencies, and we are monitoring developments.”
The Central Bank of Ireland has, in recent years, issued a number of warnings to consumers about investing in cryptocurrencies. In response to queries from The Journal, a spokesperson for the Central Bank said, “We reiterate those warnings.
