AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
FRA
GER
ESP
ITA
NLD
PRT
SWE
GRC
IND
POL
BRA
ZAF
RUS
CHN
UAE
Summary
- The UK's Advertising Standards Authority clampdown on Luno's bitcoin buying ads.
- As per the British watchdog, the campaign was persuasive, which failed to convey that investment in cryptocurrencies are volatile and complex in nature and may lead to losses.
The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned Bitcoin buying ad by Luno, terming it as misleading and irresponsible. The UK watchdog stated the campaign as persuasive, which failed to convey that investment in cryptocurrencies are volatile and complex in nature and may lead to losses.
ASA received the complain about the ad that they were not explaining the risk involved in bitcoin trading. Since February this year, advertisement has been featured in London’s tube station and buses with the slogan: “If you’re seeing bitcoin on the underground, it’s time to buy”.
Bitcoins are not regulated in the UK and have seen high price volatility in the past week, when the digital currency lost over 30 per cent of the value. Advertising Standards Authority concluded that the statement chosen for the campaign was not up to the standards and did not disclose the risk associated with the investment in cryptocurrencies and encouraged inexperienced consumers to purchase Bitcoin.
Although three complaints were already received by the advert regulator against Luno, all three claiming the ad to be inappropriate and misleading, but the British watchdog banned the ad on 26 May after bitcoin’s price made strong rebound and surged for the day.
Luno is a London based cryptocurrency company with a customer base mainly in Asia and Africa. It is part of the group, which own CoinDesk website and has a 200,000 million user base, and out of which only 7 million are from the UK, as per company’s release in April 2021.
Copyright © 2021 Kalkine Media
Similar clampdown by ASA
This is not the first time when UK advertising body flagged an advertisement. In March, ASA had banned a full pager advertisement given in a local newspaper by Coinfloor, that said, "there is no point in keeping your money in the bank," including a description of bitcoin as "digital gold". The ad featured a woman aged 63, quoting she invested one-third of its pension funds into Bitcoin. The advertisement’s motive seemed to target the retirees and move their savings in cryptocurrency.
Though Crypto markets are not illegal in UK, it needs to be regulated. For now, Luno has been warned by UK watchdog to make sure that its future marketing material should comprise all the risk associated with Cryptocurrency. Luno acknowledged the same that the current version of ad will no longer be used, and in future ads, it will put a proper disclaimer.
Cryptocurrencies have witnessed astounding rally, giving an unmatched return. Still, many banks have warned the investors against the use of them, stating they are not actual currencies, and investors may lose all their money due to fluctuations in the price.
For more understanding, do read: Bitcoin: A New Asset Class Or Greatest Bubble Of All Time?
