The UK has quite an uncertain stance on crypto. Over the last couple of months, several crypto-related firms were shut off from the UK. This was mostly due to the Advertising Standards Authority [ASA], UK’s advertising regulator. Earlier this year, the ASA banned two “misleading” ads by Crypto.com. Looks like this notion persisted and this time it was related to NFTs.
Earlier today, the ASA rolled out a ruling that pointed out how Crypto.com had launched an ad back in July 2022 that read,
“Crypto.com NFT is now available in the Crypto.com App. Mint, collect and trade NFTs and manage your crypto all in one place. Launch Crypto.comNFT from the App home screen and make a purchase via drops on the Marketplace. Sign up to Crypto.com/NFT now! Access Crypto.com NFT at your fingertips”.
It should be noted that this ad came with a video as well. The video reportedly shed light on how to purchase NFTs on the exchange. The ASA accused the platform of not highlighting the risk of investing in NFTs. Along with this, the regulator also “didn’t make it clear that fees would apply.”
Crypto.com battled these claims by suggesting that selling fees were not relevant to the ad. However, the ASA concluded the ad was misleading. As per its latest ruling,
“the ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Foris DAX Global Ltd t/a Crypto.com that their advertising must make clear the risks of NFTs by stating that they were an unregulated crypto asset and that their value could go down as well as up.”
In addition to this, the ASA stressed the importance of including details pertaining to fees and charges.
FC Barcelona also faces ASA for NFT-related ad
Similar to Crypto.com, FC Barcelona was called out for its NFT-related ad. This ad was featured back in July 2022 and was sold at Sotheby’s. FC Barcelona was accused of not listing the risks associated with NFTs. Restrictions on ownership rights and details about the auction house fees, sales tax, and third-party wallet transfer fees weren’t mentioned either.
As per Barcelona, NFTs weren’t considered financial instruments. They claimed that, unlike certain security tokens or e-money tokens, they were not listed as forbidden activities by the FCA and that, as a result, the purchase of an NFT could not be regarded as an investment. Additionally, they said the advertisement was only broadcast from July 20 to July 29 of 2022 and has not been seen since.
While the ad was ruled to be misleading, the ASA suggested that the ad shouldn’t appear in its current form. FC Barcelona was expected to follow a similar course of action as Crypto.com.