Argentine Senate Mulls Crypto Advertisement Regulation

The Argentine senate is discussing a preliminary project that would regulate the way in which individuals and organizations promote crypto. The objective of the project, which is still under discussion, would be to educate consumers on the dangers of investing in crypto and also to protect them from investing in crypto Ponzi schemes.

More and more countries are taking action to avoid the diffusion of cryptocurrency scams through advertising channels. Argentina, one of the countries in Latam where cryptocurrency adoption has been growing, has begun to mull the establishment of crypto-related advertisement laws. The discussion, which is being promoted by Senator Eduardo Andrada and others, would put its focus on educating potential users of cryptocurrency about the particularities of these assets.

In the same way, another of the objectives of this potential project would be to protect investors from falling into fake and Ponzi-based crypto schemes. The meeting, which saw the presence of Sebastian Negri and Martín Breinlinger, members of the Argentine Securities Commission, presented several cryptocurrency schemes that had promotion and advertising through different media.

One of the ideas presented proposed that any crypto-related publicity would have to include slogans explaining the risks that such investments carry.

Senators and other assistants had different views regarding the proposed project. Negri explained the benefits that the approval of such a law would bring to potential investors. He stated:

With the rise of Bitcoin from 10,000 to 69,000 dollars, what they did was promise people that the profitability that occurred the previous year was going to be repeated for those who entered now. That is false advertising. One cannot promise guaranteed profits. That’s a basic rule, but it was happening.

Furthermore, Negri stated that traditional financial institutions, such as banks, were not able to do so, but crypto can because of the low regulation of the ecosystem in the country. However, Senator Angela Negri expressed her disapproval of the idea of regulating crypto advertising, stating that this could cause the Senate to get caught up in other crypto-related issues.

I don’t like this project. I don’t like regulations and I don’t really understand how to regulate something that isn’t regulated. It sounds to me that it is a first step towards a regulation.

Other countries have already established regulations around this subject. In January, Spain established its own rules to control crypto publicity, targeting influencers first. In the same way, the U.K. announced in July it would increase its vigilance over misleading crypto campaigns.

What do you think about the Argentine senate’s proposal to regulate crypto advertisements? Tell us in the comments section below.