Crypto exchanges welcome ASCI's new advertising guidelines

Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), on Wednesday, released a set of guidelines to be followed by all virtual digital assets (VDAs) advertisements. These guidelines are applicable to all adverts, including crypto products and NFTs, released or published on or after April 1.

The disclaimer as suggested by ASCI reads, "Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions.”

The guidelines clearly state that advertisements of investments in virtual digital assets must mention that they are unregulated. The guidelines have come after the announcement of 30 per cent tax on VDAs in the Budget 2022. Many were considering whether crypto can be considered legal after the imposition of tax.

Crypto exchanges, however, across the industry have welcomed the move as new guidelines will bring in more clarity. It also brought up that the advertising guidelines are based on our current understanding of the crypto ecosystem and are expected to evolve as the industry enters a more mature phase.

Shivam Thakral, CEO of Buyucoin, a homegrown cryptocurrency exchange, says, “We are glad that finally we have clear advertising guidelines from ASCI for crypto advertising in India. If we look at the existing crypto advertisements, they are already carrying risk related disclaimers for the investors as mentioned in the latest ASCI guidelines. We feel that the advertising guidelines should be common for asset based investments with clear focus on communicating the associated risks to investors. The clarity on advertisement guidelines will encourage crypto service providers to create annual media plan which will boost the revenues for the advertising industry. The advertising guidelines are based on our current understanding of crypto ecosystem and are expected to evolve as the industry enter a more mature phase.”

Ramalingam Subramanian, Head of Brand, Marketing and Communication, CoinDCX, says, “ASCI releasing customised advertising guidelines is a very promising and welcoming move for the Crypto industry in India. CoinDCX is a member of ASCI and has been actively complying with ASCI’s Standard Ad Guidelines. Alongside, we have also been following some internal guardrails with an objective to be transparent and use appropriate disclaimers in our advertisement campaign across all channels. The new guidelines add in more clarity and we are committed to abide by these and represent our brand in the right light.”

It further states that the disclaimer should be inserted in the ads in a manner that this warning is prominent and unmissable for an average consumer. ASCI further notes in its guidelines that at least one-fifth or 20 per cent of the ad space towards the bottom of the print or static ad should be dedicated to this disclaimer. In case of a video ad, “the disclaimer should be placed at the end of the advertisement against a plain background. A voice over must accompany the disclaimer in text. The voiceover should be at a normal speaking pace and must not be hurried.”

Vikram Subburaj, co-founder and CEO of Giottus Crypto Exchange agrees. “Crypto is a nascent asset class with inherently higher risk. It is suited for investors who understand and act according to their risk profiles. At the same time, investing in it may be detrimental for some who fail to appreciate the risks involved. In this context, the ASCI guidelines will help companies and services to communicate with all consumers in a common language. Standard disclaimers help in educating investors to take informed decisions which will grow the industry sustainably in the long term. We welcome this development and the direction it leads us to. 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,” he said.