• by Todd Wasserman , March 23, 2022

In this year’s Super Bowl, FTX, Crypto.com and Coinbase Global ran ads. Now that crypto has become a maturing ad category, regulators are stepping in.

In the U.K., the Advertising Standard Authority on Tuesday sent an enforcement notice to more than 50 companies that advertise cryptocurrencies. The warnings discourage encouraging people to buy crypto with credit cards, and dissuading them from buying crypto with their pensions.

In Australia, regulators sued Meta over “scam celebrity crypto ads” spread on Facebook. Singapore last year banned social media ads for crypto, and Spain said it will require influencers to notify regulators about crypto posts. India also set guidelines for crypto advertising, which go into effect April 1. The EU’s financial regulators also published a checklist for hobby investors to study.

However, there seems to be little regulatory action so far in the U.S. In December, Facebook reversed its ban on crypto ads, remarking that the market had “matured.” Meta had announced plans for a currency and digital wallet, but scaled back those ambitions significantly last year.

Meanwhile, over the past year, crypto firms have rolled out TV ads featuring A-list stars like Matt Damon, Spike Lee and others.

So far, the Biden Administration has taken tentative steps to monitor cryptocurrencies. Earlier this month, President Biden signed an executive order calling on the government to examine the risks and benefits of cryptocurrencies.

Erika Safran, founder of Safran Wealth Advisors in New York, said she believes the government should step in to make sure crypto advertising is fair. “I think that the advertising of a risky product should be as clear as possible,” she said. “It is the government’s role to step in to have truth in advertising.”