ASCI releases guidelines for crypto ads: Disclaimer and advertiser details must

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has released new guidelines for advertisers publishing ads about virtual digital assets (VDA) including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The guidelines will be applicable to all advertisements released or published after 1 April 2022. Earlier advertisements shouldn’t appear in the public domain after 15 April 2022 unless they comply with the new guidelines.
In accordance with the new guidelines, all advertisements for VDA products, VDA exchanges or featuring VDAs should carry a disclaimer that says, “Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions”.
The regulatory advertising body also asserts that this disclaimer should be prominent and unmissable and makes different prescriptions for advertisements appearing in different media. It requests advertisers to present information that will be easily understood customers.
Advertisers have also been warned against using the words “currency”, “securities” and “depositories” while advertising VDA products and services because ASCI says consumers associate those terms with regulated products. The information contained in advertisements shouldn’t contradict the information or warnings that regulated entities provide to customers.
The guidelines also make recommendations against obfuscating cost and profitability, depicting minors in ads about VDA products, pitching VDA products as a solution to financial or personality problems, and downplaying the risk associated with these products among other things.

All advertisements will also be required to clearly give out the name of the advertisers and a method of contacting them, either through phone or email. One of the guidelines published requests all celebrities to do their own due diligence when it comes to the statements they make on advertisements to avoid misleading customers.
“The ASCI guidelines are a step in the right direction to standardise advertisements within the VDA space. The VDA industry is supportive of all efforts towards investor protection, however, there are nuances that need to be addressed as the space is ever-evolving. We will continue to work together with ASCI and other stakeholders to refine them further,” Ashish Singhal, founder and CEO of CoinSwitch, said reacting to the new rules.
“All investment ads and campaigns do have a responsibility to educate the users on the risks, the affiliated volatility and liquidity restrictions, and aspects of the asset. Even media, ad agencies, and other supporting ecosystems have the responsibility to educate the same market in a responsible method,” Keyur Patel, chairman of the NFT platform GuardianLink, said in a statement.