The Advertising Standards Authority has now laid out a tougher set of rules that businesses must follow to protect investors.
A British regulator has declared that cryptocurrency adverts are a "red alert" issue.
The Advertising Standards Authority has now laid out a tougher set of rules that businesses must follow to protect investors.
Falling foul of these measures could result in the ads being banned altogether.
According to The Drum, the ASA is especially concerned that some crypto ads trivialize investing potentially life-changing sums of money.
A false sense of urgency can also be created with some adverts — taking advantage of a customer's inexperience.
Right now, a number of cases are being investigated, and the ASA is set to issue rulings. The regulator said:
"In all of this, there is a clear separation between ads for legal crypto investments and illegitimate scam ads."
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Advertising Proliferates
All of this comes as the number of cryptocurrency ads continues to explode — and in the U.S., a number of celebrities are also earning big bucks by endorsing particular exchanges.
London's transport network has become a particular battleground for crypto projects. Back in June, the Luno trading platform landed itself in hot water by declaring that "it's time to buy" — and the ASA ordered that those posters must not appear in the same form again.
The latest brand to face scrutiny from the ASA is the memecoin Floki Inu, which has been plastered across London buses and trains with the tagline: "Missed DOGE? Get FLOKI."
Floki Inu has told CoinMarketCap that it is responding to the ASA's questions as part of its investigation, and that its adverts have followed legal procedure.
Some London politicians have also called for crypto advertising to be banned altogether — describing it as "unethical." Floki Inu said:
"The attack against these ads by a certain political party is an attack against cryptocurrency and against the people's freedom of choice — a clear attempt at censorship. Ads that make women feel shameful about their bodies as well as ads about viagra and junk food are allowed to run freely on the Tube but even the slightest ad about cryptocurrency — the future of finance — is criticized."
Floki Inu went on to add that crypto is a legitimate asset class in the U.K., with data from the Financial Conduct Authority suggesting that at least 2.3 million Britons now own cryptocurrencies.
