The Federal Trade Commission is looking into numerous unnamed cryptocurrency companies for allegations of misconduct in the promotion of digital assets.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the United States is looking into a number of cryptocurrency companies for potentially fraudulent or misleading cryptocurrency advertising.
FTC spokeswoman Juliana Gruenwald said the agency is looking into “multiple corporations for alleged misbehavior with digital assets,” according to a Bloomberg article from December 6.
The companies that were the focus of the investigation and what led to it were neither disclosed by Gruenwald.
Deceptive advertising and promotion, however, have been hot topics in the United States this year.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) penalized reality TV actress Kim Kardashian in October for “touting on social media” about the EthereumMax (EMAX) cryptocurrency token while concealing that she had been paid $250,000 to do so.
NBA point guard Stephen Curry and NFL quarterback Tom Brady were reportedly among a group of celebrities under investigation by the Texas financial regulator in November for their promotion of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange, FTX.
The FTC is a free-standing American government organization that was established with the mission of defending the general public against dishonest or unfair corporate practices.
A warning concerning a cryptocurrency scam with three essential elements—an impostor, a QR code, and a crypto ATM where the victims are instructed to transmit money—was distributed earlier this year.
Additionally, they stated in a report dated June 6 that as much as $1 billion in cryptocurrency had been lost to fraudsters throughout the year and that nearly half of all scams relating to cryptocurrencies in 2021 originated through social media sites.
Several financial watchdogs and enforcement organizations throughout the world have also been aggressively attempting to stop misleading cryptocurrency ads.
Over 50 businesses that advertise cryptocurrency received an enforcement warning from the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in March telling them to assess their adverts to make sure they adhere to the regulations.
Truth in Advertising, a consumer protection organization based in the United States, accused 19 celebrities of endorsing nonfungible tokens (NFTs) without revealing their affiliation with the projects.
The cryptocurrency business has also received warnings about misleading advertising strategies from Australia’s financial authority.
Australian company BPS Financial Pty Ltd (BPS) was sued in civil court in October by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for allegedly making “misleading” statements about its Qoin coin.
