Cryptocurrency firms will now have to comply with advertisement rules similar to those applicable on mutual funds.
In a set of guidelines issued on Wednesday, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has mandated that all cryptocurrency and NFT ads will have to carry a disclaimer stating, "Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions."
ASCI, which is a self-regulatory organisation for the advertising industry, has listed several conditions to ensure that the disclaimer is communicated properly to viewers. For instance, print advertisements will have to carry the disclaimer in at least 1/5th of the ad space and video ads will have to display it for at least 5 seconds.
Additionally, ASCI has restricted crypto ads from showing minors dealing with cryptocurrencies. Also, they cannot promise guaranteed returns or show digital currencies as solution to money problems in the ad.
The advertisement body has asked celebrities to avoid doing misleading crypto ads. "Since this is a risky category, celebrities or prominent personalities who appear in VDA (virtual digital assets) advertisements must take special care to ensure that they have done their due diligence about the statements and claims made in the advertisement, so as not to mislead consumers," the guidelines stated.
The guidelines will be applicable to all advertisements released or published on or after April 1, 2022. The guidelines also mandate that post April 15, 2022 all earlier advertisements must not appear in the public domain unless they comply with the guidelines.
