Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland Bans Crypto Ads Specifically Targeting Youths

JAKARTA - The governor of the Central Bank of Ireland urged lawmakers on Wednesday January 25 to ban advertising of crypto assets targeted at young adults or youth. In addition, there are also crypto advertisements that equate cryptos that are not related to any underlying assets with Ponzi schemes.

A critic of crypto assets, Gabriel Makhlouf said that while they present minimal financial stability risks for now, Irish regulators are very concerned about the impact on retail customers.

"There are a number of young adults who are putting their money into crypto and there is an inconvenient level of advertising targeted at that group. If you can find a way, I would recommend that advertising for that group be banned," Makhlouf told an Irish parliamentary committee.

"Unsupported crypto is basically a Ponzi scheme. People are putting their money into unbacked crypto, and most of the significant crypto stocks out there are not supported, they are basically gambling," Makhlouf said. "When you gamble, you can win, but many times when you gamble, you actually lose."

Makhlouf, a member of the European Central Bank's supervisory board, said recently agreed EU regulations would provide a much-needed "fence" for stablecoins, cryptocurrencies designed to have a fixed value, but that more regulation would be needed in the future.

This is not the first time the Central Bank of Ireland has warned of the dangers of crypto advertising. In March 2022, the Central Bank of Ireland issued a warning to consumers about the risks of “misleading” advertising promoting crypto investments, especially ads from social media influencers.