UK Regulators Order Crypto Exchange Luno to Amend BTC Ad

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Luno, a London-based cryptocurrency exchange, has been forced to amend an ad that has been appearing on the underground and the city’s buses since February, the Financial Times reports.

In the advertisement, the company encouraged users to buy Bitcoin with the slogan: “If you’re seeing Bitcoin on the Underground, it’s time to buy.” However, the Advertising Standards Authority, the country’s advertising regulator, has said the ad should be amended since everyone could see it and it was “likely to have been seen by consumers who did not have extensive financial knowledge and experience of bitcoin.”

In addition, the watchdog has argued Bitcoin is a complex investment subject to high volatility which is not regulated in the country. More precisely, the regulator wrote:

“We concluded that the ad irresponsibly suggested that engaging in bitcoin investment through Luno was straightforward and easy, particularly given that the audience it addressed, the general public, were likely to be inexperienced in their understanding of cryptocurrencies, and was therefore in breach of the Code.”

As a result, the next set of ads published by the company must comply with some specific requirements set by the watchdog: it must clarify the value of Bitcoin is variable and that neither Luno nor Bitcoin is regulated. Besides, the process of BTC investment must not be simplified in order not to mislead potential investors.