"We considered the ad took advantage of consumers’ inexperience and credulity by not making clear tax could be paid on cryptocurrency profits, and by irresponsibly suggesting that investing in cryptocurrency was straightforward and for everyone, regardless of their personal circumstances and understanding of what they were investing in."
eToro to review its paid-for adverts
Similarly, a display ad for stocks and cryptocurrency trading platform eToro was banned for irresponsibly taking advantage of consumers’ inexperience and for failing to illustrate the risk of the investment.
The ASA said an August online advert for eToro was misleading and irresponsible. eToro said while the product was unregulated, it had aimed to include a prominent risk warning to highlight the lack of regulation of cryptocurrency and the perceived level of risk associated with cryptocurrency assets.
The platform acknowledged that in this instance the appropriate risk warning was missing, owing to a lapse in their review process.
The company said it "acknowledged there had been a breakdown in our review process which meant, in this instance, the appropriate risk warning did not appear."
Accordingly, eToro has contacted the relevant marketing team to remove the ad and ensure it was no longer running.
It has also reiterated to the relevant teams the need for a consistent and ongoing approach to financial promotions, and told the ASA that eToro would also be conducting a full audit of their paid-for ads, making any necessary changes and removing any non-compliant ads.
simoney.kyriakou@ft.com
