Crypto exchanges want the regulators to lay down the rules for ads to make things clear.
Indian cryptocurrency exchanges have asserted that they will not be producing any news advertisements until there’s some clarity over rules, according to an Economic Times (ET) report.
The exchanges discussed and took this decision during the meeting held by the Blockchain and Crypto Asset Committee (BACC), an arm of the industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), two anonymous sources told ET.
“These crypto platforms prefer to wait till there is some understanding on what’s acceptable. The ads for which payments have already been made would of course go on, but there would be no new deals. However, not all platforms have agreed to this…some think their ads are subtle enough and can continue,” said an official of a crypto exchange.
The crypto companies may also meet in the coming week for further discussions.
Advertisement rules are a bit different for financial services companies.
A financial expert explained that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has mandated that any financial product advertisement, must be corroborated with data. “A mutual fund talking about its performance has to give three-year performance data.”
“The industry should move towards investor educative advertising in addition to its regular advertising. Such advertisements should also be bound by a code that may be prescribed by the likes of ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India)…Regulations should recognise such codes and advertisements should neither mislead nor give an impression that crypto means earning quick and easy money nor run schemes that clearly violate prevalent laws.”
Rameesh Kailasam, CEO of Indiatech.org
An exchange official revealed that they want the regulators and ASCI to lay down a framework to make things clear.
In the past few days, the Government has vehemently expressed its disapproval of crypto advertisements arguing that they can mislead the viewers.
The barrage of advertisements during the recently concluded T20 Cricket World cup also caught the eyes of regulators. Crypto exchanges spent an estimated INR 50 crore on advertisements.
Financial offerings always involve some amount of risk. Since crypto-assets fall in a grey area of regulations, fraudsters find it easy to con off people. The recent scams of Kerala and Bengaluru also testify that. Right now, there’s no specific regulatory authority too whose help a duped individual can take. There’s no specific investigatory authority that takes charge of such cases. That’s why the crypto community is eager for regulation.
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