The UK’s advertising authority has issued enforcement notices to over 50 firms that have promoted cryptocurrency.
The Advertising Standards Authority(ASA) said that the notice is aimed at alerting firms to evaluate and clean up their ads within two months or face harsher penalties.
As digital assets acquired widespread appeal, regulators throughout the world tried to clamp down on crypto marketing.
Earlier this year, the UK, Singapore, and Spain agreed to tighten regulations on crypto marketing, including limiting them to affluent investors, but the UK has yet to specify a deadline for enacting the move.
The Chancellor’s take on the issue
The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, said in January that the government would seek to modify the legislation to give the FCA additional powers to monitor crypto-asset advertising, putting digital asset advertisements in line with the higher criteria now imposed on other financial advertisements.
However, the ASA said that it does not anticipate the new system being operational until 2023 and cautioned that unscrupulous operators may attempt to take advantage of the delay.
The Cryptocurrency Market Is on High Alert
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is in charge of overseeing digital and physical advertising activities in the United Kingdom.
It placed cryptocurrency advertisements on “red alert” last year, indicating that it considers crypto enforcement a top priority.
Aside from that, the agency is aggressively clamping down on non-compliant cryptocurrency advertisements and has taken down the campaigns of firms such as eToro, Coinfloor, Ziglu, Coinbase, and even the London football team Arsenal.
Some 18 crypto companies are still waiting to hear from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on their applications to advance from the FCA’s provisional crypto-asset registry toward full authorization.
Companies such as digital bank Revolut Ltd. and crypto brokerage Copper Technologies Ltd. may be forced to shut down their crypto activities if they do not get an FCA license by the deadline of March 31.
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