ASCI issues guidelines for crypto, NFTs advertisement and promotion

New Delhi: The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has laid out specific guidelines for advertisements related to virtual digital asset. The guidelines will be applicable to all adds released on or after April 1, 2022.

ASCI guidelines say that advertisement related to all virtual digital assets must bear the disclaimer “Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions”. The same disclaimer goes for non-fungible tokens (NFT) as well.

ASCI guidelines also maintain that the words “currency”, “securities”, “custodian” and “depositories” may not be used in advertisements of VDA products or services as consumers associate these terms with regulated products. Also, information on past performance shall not be provided in any partial or biased manner. Returns for periods of less than 12 months shall not be included, say the ASCI guidelines.

The guidelines also prohibit showing a minor, or someone who appears to be a minor, directly dealing with the product, or talking about the product on advertisement  related to VDA products. It also prohibits advertisement to contain statements that promise or guarantee future increase in profits.

ASCI guidelines also cautions celebrities or prominent personalities who appear in VDA advertisements to 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, since this is a risky category.

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