India’s Advertising Standards Board to issue guidelines on cryptocurrency advertising

The emergence of a regulatory document does not yet mean the adoption of digital assets in the country

23.02.2022 - 14:10

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1 min

What’s new? The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has issued guidelines for digital asset advertising. They require cryptocurrency companies to include the following disclaimer in all their advertisements: “Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions.” These rules will come into force on April 1.

ASCI’s press release

What rules has the regulator prepared? ASCI believes that the disclaimer should be “prominent and unmissable” to the average consumer. For example, in a print ad, it should occupy at least 1/5th of the advertising space at the bottom and be written in an easy-to-read font. In a video ad, it should be placed at the end of the ad and accompanied by a voiceover. According to the guideline, the words “currency,” “securities,” “custodian” and “depositories” should not be used in crypto ads, as consumers associate these terms with regulated products.

What does the ASCI representative say? Subhash Kamath, chairman of ASCI, reported that the guideline does not yet mean the adoption of cryptocurrencies in the country. He added:

Advertising of virtual digital assets and services needs specific guidance, considering that this is a new and as yet an emerging way of investing. Hence, there is a need to make consumers aware of the risks and ask them to proceed with caution.”

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