The UK’s advertising watchdog said it will clamp down on misleading marketing for crypto investments as part of a wider move by regulators to prevent harm to consumers who decide to trade unregulated digital assets.
The Advertising Standards Authority told the Financial Times it will begin a major effort this month to seek out and take down misleading or irresponsible crypto advertisements, particularly online and on social media platforms.
“We see this as an absolutely crucial and priority area for us,” said Miles Lockwood, director of complaints and investigations at ASA. “Where we do find problems we will crack down hard and fast.”
He said the agency has identified crypto as a “red alert” priority within financial advertising. Companies will be issued with warnings and may be required to include disclaimers on their advertisements.
The advertising industry’s self-regulatory body has been thrust to the forefront of efforts to supervise cryptocurrency advertisements because most crypto investments fall outside the scope of the UK’s strict rules…
