UK Ads Watchdog Starts Clamping Down On Bitcoin Advertisements

The UK Ads watchdog has an issue with Bitcoin advertisements especially those that are enticing people to invest in crypto as we can see more in our latest Bitcoin news today.

The UK Ads watchdog is set to clamp down on the misleading ads regarding crypto investments and the move came amid the FCA’s consumer warning against binance. The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority is set to clamp down on irresponsible ads that entice people to invest in crypto according to the financial times. Miles Lockwood, director of complaints and investigations at the ASA said:

“We see this as an absolutely crucial and priority area for us. Where we do find problems we will crack down hard and fast.”

Lockwood added that the crypto industry is considered a “red alert” priority in financial advertising so the ASA relied on reacting to consumer complaints but it is now pivoting to another approach. Louise Maroney who is responsible for the complaints at the ASA said:

“We do recognize that there are some types of media that we haven’t been able to fully address until now.”

To tackle the problematic ads, the ASA is now increasing the capacity to scan for suspect advertisements using a few digital techniques including web scraping and AI. The ASA is also set to target social media influencers that play a huge role in promoting various crypto projects online. The ASA clamped down on Luno which was a popular exchange that ran ads on London’s public transport system saying that “If you see BTC on the Underground, It’s time to buy.” Luno’s chief executive Marcs Swanepoel disagreed with the ASA position and said that the ads are actually not ok.

The ASA’s pivot to misleading crypto ads came at a time when the UK Financial conduct authority took a tough stance on crypto. The FCA issued a consumer warning notice against Binance Markets Limited which is a UK-acquired company Binance intended to use and operate as a bespoke crypto exchange for UK customers. The FCA said that it had issues with the company’s approach to anti-money laundering requirements. The FCA’s decision sparked an industry pushback against Binance as we saw Santander and Barclays both halting payments to the exchange in order to protect their customers. Natwest capped transfers to crypto exchanges and two days ago, the Nationwide Building Society announced it will review the policies towards crypto.