Coinfloor Ltd, a Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange released an advert on Dec. 3, 2020 in the Northamptonshire Telegraph titled, ‘There is no point in keeping your money in the bank…’. The advert featured a woman described to be 63 years, with a text claiming that more and more people were waking up to the saving power of Bitcoin. It went further to explain how the woman received her pension at 60 years and put a high portion of it into Bitcoin.
The United Kingdom Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld the complaint to this advertisement that was deemed to have targeted retirees as misleading and socially responsible. The woman in the advert referred to Bitcoin as digital gold and detailed the simple signup process employed by Coinfloor that makes it very easy to buy and hold BTC. She finished by advising viewers to use Coinfloor to help them build their Bitcoin savings portfolio,
According to ASA, the advert was misleading as it failed to make clear the risks associated with Bitcoin investments, including loss of capital, and that neither Coinfloor Ltd nor the general Bitcoin market were regulated in the U.K. The complaint was upheld on this point, with the body claiming that Coinfloor had failed to convey Bitcoin’s volatile nature. Coinfloor was also accused of directly comparing investing one’s savings in Bitcoin with the use of regulated services, and thereby discouraging consumers from placing their money in banks.
The misleading allegations were because the ad suggested that purchasing Bitcoin was a good or secure way to invest someone’s savings or pension. The compliant was also upheld on this aspect, with ASA judging that Coinfloor had advertised Bitcoin investments as being safer than they were in reality. Coinfloor was accused of insinuating that funds in its portfolio would not fluctuate in value, which would irresponsibly suggest that purchasing Bitcoin through them was a secure way of investment.
In conclusion, ASA stated that the ad could no longer appear in its current form. Coinfloor in its future marketing communications would make it sufficiently clear that the value of investments in Bitcoin were variable and could fluctuate. Coinfloor would also state in future adverts that together with the Bitcoin market, they were unregulated, and that they did not irresponsibly suggest that purchasing Bitcoin represented a secure investment of a person’s pension or savings.
Image courtesy of pixabay
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