Seven cryptocurrency adverts have been banned by the UK’s advertising watchdog.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) says monitoring cryptoassets, like Bitcoin, is a “red-alert priority” following concerns that many ads fail to fully convey the risks of investing.
The banned ads included a promotion by a pizza chain and Facebook ads for a large cryptocurrency exchange.
The ASA says it hopes to produce new guidance on cryptocurrency advertising.
All seven ads or promotions were “banned for irresponsibly taking advantage of consumers’ inexperience and for failing to illustrate the risk of the investment”, it said.
The companies whose ads were found to have broken the rules were:
Coinburp: A Twitter page for Coinburp, a cryptocurrency trading platform.
eToro (UK): A paid-for display ad for eToro, a stocks and cryptocurrency trading platform.
Payward: A digital poster for Kraken, an online cryptocurrency exchange.
Exmo Exchange: A YouTube video promoting cryptocurrency exchange Exmo
Luno Money: An in-app ad for Luno, a cryptocurrency exchange service.
Coinbase Europe: A paid-for Facebook ad for Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange platform.
Papa John’s GB: A promotion on the Papa John’s pizza restaurant chain’s website and in a Twitter post.
The banned Papa John’s website promotion offered consumers “free Bitcoin worth £10”, as well as telling customers: “Save £15 when you spend £30 or more & get £10 worth of Bitcoin from Luno!”