UK Regulators Ban Coinbase And Kraken's Crypto Ads, Say Risks Are Minimized

United Kingdom advertising industry regulator Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) took down cryptocurrency-related ads by Coinbase Global Inc. COIN, Kraken, eToro, Exmo, Coinburp and Luno.

What Happened: The Advertising Standards Authority took down the ads of the aforementioned companies for “irresponsibly taking advantage of consumers inexperience and for failing to illustrate the risk of the investment."

The ASA believes that Coinbase's European branch ran a "misleading" Facebook ad in July 2021 stating that "five pounds in Bitcoin in 2010 would be worth over 100,000 pounds in January 2021.”

The regulator argued that the text "implied there would be a similar guaranteed increase in Bitcoin value over the next decade" and “did not make clear that past performance was not necessarily a guide for the future."

ASA also believes that a digital billboard ad featuring Kraken which appeared at London Bridge Station in August lacked a risk warning since the caution appeared "for one second" only "at the beginning of a 20-second ad."

The regulator said the ban was due to the warning appearing so briefly and because "It presented the consumer with a large amount of information that would not be fully read or understood even if it was seen at all." 

Related Link: Facebook Eases Ban On Cryptocurrency Advertisements Amid Metaverse Push

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