France Bans Influncers Promotion Of Crypto, Violating Will Be Fined Rp493 Million And Social Media Accounts Removed

The French government will ban crypto promotions carried out by social media influencers. (Photo; Doc. Wccftech)

JAKARTA - The practice of advertising and promoting cryptocurrencies by social media influencers will be banned in France if the new law is passed by the Assembly and the Senate. The law aims to protect consumers from potential risks.

Violating the law can result in a sentence of up to two years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros (equivalent to Rp493 million) and losing their social media accounts.

The proposal has been added to Draft Law number 790 which aims to combat fraud and "excess" information shared by influencers on social media platforms. The legal adjustment will place crypto assets in the same category as risky financial products, gambling, aesthetic operations, and pharmaceuticals.

In particular, France wants to protect consumers from "advertising targeting financial products and services that pose special risks". If the Assembly and Senate accept this law, France will join Spain, Belgium and the UK who are also seeking stricter crypto regulatory policies.

According to a CoinSpeller report, these countries impose restrictions on advertising campaigns. Spain was the first European country to impose restrictions on crypto promotions by influencers in a bid to control crypto marketing.

In early 2023, the French couple living in Dubai, Marc and Nadé Blata, were involved in a scandal related to crypto promotion which turned out to be a scam. The couple shared investment advice with millions of their Instagram followers and promoted an NFT platform called Animoon.

The platform raises up to $6.3 million, but investors don't accept their share. The scandal affected 102 victims who filed a collective lawsuit against the couple. Meta deleted the fraudster's Instagram accounts after the case was revealed.

Another case involving French social media influencers occurred in 2022. YouTube channel owner named Crypto Gouv discussed ways to invest jointly in crypto, NFT, and share trading insights. He also ran the Discord and Telegram channels for several months, where he encouraged his customers to participate in group investments.

After building a community with 4,000 people, Crypto Gouv asked for an investment pool with a big profit promise. As a result, nearly 300 people were affected, and channel owners whose identities were not disclosed got 4 million euros (around Rp65.4 billion).