Finally the Government has announced that it will be taking action to control cryptocurrency advertising in the UK by bringing it into line with the financial promotions rules controlled by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). They have been threatening to do this for a while now.
The FCA rules mean that adverts will have to be “fair, clear and not misleading” in line with other financial services advertising like insurance, banking, lending and investments. There has been concern about crypto adverts for some time in terms of the adverts tending to overstate the benefits and understate the high risks involved. The Advertising Standards Agency has also acted recently to take down adverts, so together with the FCA they should be able to exert their influence.
The UK is not alone in taking action as both Spain and Singapore have also just taken action and other countries are expected to follow suit.
There are some questions as to whether this will have any impact on people buying crypto as some research shows that only 2-5% of people admit to buying after seeing adverts. Especially through mainstream advertising media. Online however its different with almost 40% of people saying that they see the adverts on social media. Unfortunately the FCA and ASA are still not able to control social media advertising which is a big problem. If you need advice about cryptocurrency investments you should speak to one of the Best Financial Advisers.
The implementation of these latest controls will come through a Financial Promotions Order and the Governments estimates that the legislation will be in place in about six months from now. (January 21)
