ACR #9: South Africa’s new crypto rules
Welcome to Africa Crypto Report, our weekly look at crypto, blockchain and more on the African continent. Today, we are talking about South Africa's new crypto ad rules.
The Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) of South Africa has added a new crypto-related clause to the Code of Advertising Practice to offer greater protection to investors.
The new rules focus on better consumer awareness by avoiding misleading data in advertisements. It states that crypto advertisements should warn consumers about the fluctuations in digital assets’ prices and the loss in capital.
What does this mean?
During the peak of the bull run, crypto service providers aggressively promoted their products by using various means like sponsoring sports events and brand endorsements from well-known celebrities and social media influencers.
This often led to fraud and Ponzi cases where people get scammed of hard-earned money. Those campaigns usually led to disorientation on the part of the public crypto users, who saw crypto as a get-rich-quick scheme and got disappointed when not-so-good seasons like the bear market of 2022 hit. One of the notable cases is the South African Mirror Trading International Propriety Limited (MTI) crypto fraud incident.
Now, in this updated guidance by ARB, advertisers are implored to state in explicit terms that “investing in crypto assets may result in the loss of capital,” as cryptocurrencies are volatile and unpredictable. The ad’s overall message should not play down the possibility of losing funds to crypto.
Properly enforced, this imposition of risk warnings in crypto ads could be the right move to protect crypto newbies as the technology continues to become mainstream.
What else?
Central African Republic eyes legal framework for crypto adoption
Central African Republic has set up a 15-member committee responsible for drafting a bill on the use of cryptocurrencies and tokenization in the region.
Bitcoin Mining in Malawi Connects More Families to the Grid
A Bitcoin mining project in Malawi reportedly utilizes clean and excess hydro energy to connect more families to the grid while providing economic empowerment to the region.
Crypto exchange Luno axes 35% of staff
London-headquartered crypto exchange with operations in Africa has announced that it'll be laying off employees.
What’s going on abroad?
Ethereum Shanghai Mainnet Shadow Fork Goes Live
On Monday, Ethereum’s core developers announced the successful deployment of the first mainnet shadow fork designed to test the readiness of ETH staking withdrawal capability, a feature expected to launch by March.
FBI Confirms North Korea Behind $100 Million Harmony Hack
The FBI announced Monday it has concluded that North Korean hacker organization Lazarus Group was behind the $100 million hack of Harmony Protocol last June.
El Salvador's Bitcoin City wins architectural design award
Bitcoin City has won an award from LOOP, a Costa Rica-based sustainable architecture and design studio after getting a thumbs-up approval from a panel of experts over its architectural design.
What’s the meme?
What we’re reading
With low prices and trust, what's next for African crypto startups and creators?
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