The US and EU will start regulating cryptocurrency advertising

In light of the FTX coll apse, the activities of offshore crypto companies operating in the eurozone are under close scrutiny by EU regulators. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is implementing the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA), which will come into effect in early 2024.

«All EU member states will have the power to take down advertisements and websites for unauthorized cryptocurrency platforms,» said Jan Keesens, Head of Digital Finance at the European Commission, at an event in London. — «Once the MiCA law is implemented, […] authorities will track down those who engage in illegal unauthorized activity.»

The issue of reverse recourse (the practice when offshore companies can operate in the EU without a license — ed.) came up last week during hearings on the FTX case in the European Parliament. Steffen Kern, Head of ESMA’s Risk and Economic Analysis Division, said that backdating is a «particularly pronounced problem» in the cryptocurrency industry, which is a major concern for the regulator.

«This [криптовалютний — ред.] market is generally offshore,» Kern said. «In many cases, we don’t even know in which jurisdiction the assets are located, and that doesn’t make it any easier.»

Kern also suggested that crypto industry players outside the EU will continue to play a dominant role in the digital asset market.

As a reminder, in October, members of the EU Council signed the MiCA cryptocurrency regulation bill. The text of the bill is to be officially approved by the European Parliament. It is expected to be published in the official journal of the European Union in early 2023 before it comes into force a year later.

It should be added that the historic MiCA law on cryptocurrencies is likely to affect crypto influencers as well, as MiCA contains a section on the control of bloggers who talk about cryptocurrencies. If the law had been adopted earlier and on a territory wider than the EU’s jurisdiction, model Kim Kardashian and boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. would have been prosecuted for illegal advertising of crypto assets. Also, the crypto blogger Bitboy Crypto, who last July urged his viewers to invest in the DOCK cryptocurrency, which turned out to be a fraudulent scheme, could be prosecuted.