Government Cracks Down on Cryptocurrency Advertisers, Disclaimers Must From April 1

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Government cracks down on cryptocurrency advertisers

Tracking government's concerns that cryptocurrency advertisements were misleading, advertisers will now have to put a disclaimer while promoting the "highly risky" and unregulated cryptocurrencies from April 1, a self-regulatory body for the industry said on Wednesday.

While the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill is still pending, and profits from digital assets transactions will be taxed at 30 per cent, the government wanted to crackdown on cryptocurrency advertisements, which authorities said were mislead the public.

The  Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) said, all virtual digital assets (VDAs), which are commonly referred to as crypto or non-fungible tokens (NFTs), will have to put the disclaimer in a "prominent and unmissable" way in campaigns for products and services.

The announcement of the guidelines, done after consultations with industry stakeholders, government and financial regulators, comes as the advertising for the controversial products and services is on the upswing.

The government is yet to come out with a law on such assets.

Still, it has proposed a tax on gains made from such transactions, which the crypto players have welcomed as a move to legitimise the industry.

In contrast, the RBI has been firm in calling for a complete ban on such activities, saying they threaten financial stability and the challenge of exchange management, monitoring and regulating such assets.

"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," said