Five key takeaways from the official Indian crypto ads guideline

The new guidelines regulate the size and language of disclaimers while prohibiting portraying the market as a "get rich quick scheme."

The Advertising Stands Council of India (ASCI) released a set of 12 guidelines for promotions and advertisement of virtual digital assets (VDA), including cryptocurrencies, on Wednesday.

The chief advertising watchdog has developed the new guideline after extensive consultation with the stakeholders of the crypto ecosystem as well as the government, ASCI said. The advertising guidelines also mark the first legal framework related to the digital asset market in the country at a time when the government is yet to finalize the crypto bill.

The new crypto advertising framework is set to come into effect starting April 1, the same date when the infamous 30% tax on crypto is set to come into effect. Let us look at five key takeaways from the guidelines that would detainment to the future of content in advertisements of the crypto firms.

1. All crypto advertisements post-April 22 must add a disclaimer to explain crypto and NFT products are unregulated and "can be highly risky." The disclaimer must be shown in all dominant languages.
2. It is not allowed to compare a crypto asset to the regulated assets in the ad.
3. Crypto ads must refrain from using "currency," "securities," "custodian" and "depositories" while referring to their products or services.
4. Crypto advertisements shouldn't portray their products as a solution to money problems in any way or form.
5. Crypto advertisements talking about profitability must contain clear, accurate, sufficient and updated information.

Related: UK advertiser ASA continues crypto ad banning spree

The advertising council also specified print size for disclaimers and how it should be broadcasted via different social mediums. Ramalingam Subramanian, head of the brand, marketing and communication at CoinDCX noted that the "new guidelines add more clarity" for crypto advertisers. He said:

“ASCI releasing customized 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."

Siddharth Sogani, CEO of blockchain analytical firm Crebaco told Cointelegraph:

“This is a great move by the concerned regulators and it is always good to have disclaimers that offer better insight into the market rather than being propagated as “get rich quick scheme.”

Sogani went on to add that the new crypto advertisement guidelines also hint at better crypto frameworks in the future and show that the government is taking in the viewpoint of stakeholders to better regulate the market.

Aggressive crypto advertisements were the theme of Indian media for the majority of the last two quarters of 2021, owing to the bull market and Indian crypto exchanges seeing a great influx of new users. This led to the Delhi high court notifying the government of the need to formulate appropriate guidelines and disclaimers in July last year.