A 68-page advisory from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) prohibits the women’s cricket teams from having direct or indirect involvement with commercial associations and other sponsorships in the crypto industry.
The preemptive ban on cryptocurrency advertising and sponsorships in the local women’s cricket league was another example of how the Indian government is taking a tough stance against cryptocurrencies.
The Women’s Premier League teams received a 68-page advisory from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on February 14 that listed the activities that couldn’t be advertised.
This information was first reported by Planet Sport. Among the gambling and tobacco industries mentioned in the document were cryptocurrencies:
“No franchisee shall undertake a partnership or any kind of association with an entity that is in any way connected/related to an entity that is involved/operates, directly or indirectly, in the cryptocurrency sector.”
The ban comes after a previous one for the men’s cricket Premier League, which was put in place back in 2022. Prior to the ban, the Indian Premier League worked with at least two regional cryptocurrency exchanges, CoinSwitch Kuber, and CoinDCX.
Coincidentally, in March 2022, the cryptocurrency companies made the decision to forgo Premier League advertising due to ethical concerns.
India, which is home to an estimated 115 million cryptocurrency investors, introduced two laws in 2022 that demanded crippling taxes on transactions and unrealized gains related to cryptocurrencies and mandated that its citizens pay a 30% tax on unrealized cryptocurrency gains.
The national budget for 2023 fell short of what some investors had hoped would be a change this year to lessen the pressure on the cryptocurrency sector.
Nirmala Sitharaman, the nation’s finance minister, supports a global regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, so significant changes to the Indian regime likely won’t occur on their own.
In light of the numerous failures and bankruptcies of significant platforms, cryptocurrency advertising became a hot topic for international regulators and enforcement bodies.
According to recently proposed advertising regulations in the UK, executives of cryptocurrency companies may be sentenced to up to two years in prison for violating certain promotion-related requirements.