On multiple occasions, celebrities have landed in trouble for promoting crypto businesses. The problem becomes even more acute when we take into account the number of people who get influenced by these ads and their favorite celebrities. In a recent social media promotion campaign, leading crypto exchange Binance was promoted by star Spanish soccer player Andres Iniesta. In the images that he shared on Twitter, he is seen with a laptop and smartphone, both accessing Binance. The accompanying caption says, ‘I am learning how to get started with crypto @Binance’. Andres Iniesta has a massive fan following, with more than 30 million followers on the social platform Twitter. Iniesta’s Twitter post also gained a lot of popularity with thousands of views and retweets. It is at this point that the Spanish National Securities Market Commission took notice of the matter and went on to warn Iniesta.
National Securities Market Commission got on Twitter to give a response to Iniesta’s post. They replied with a simple a curt statement – ”Hi Andres Iniesta, crypto-assets carry some significant risks due to being unregulated products”. Following the Tweet from the National Securities Market Commission, the matter became an issue of national importance, and various media outlets rushed to cover it. There has been no response from Andres Iniesta about the issue.
The problem of celebrities endorsing crypto products has always been an area of contention among regulatory bodies and crypto exchanges. Financial authorities feel that no influential person should promote cryptocurrency without talking about the subsequent risks. Crypto exchanges feel that is only an ad campaign, and investors learn about the risks properly before investing.
