The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand seeks to prevent deceptive advertising from luring cryptocurrency investors into the ecosystem.
The Thai SEC reminded and cautioned all active cryptocurrency exchanges on April 29 to follow established advertising guidelines and to avoid glamorizing cryptocurrency investments.
Deputy Secretary-General Anek Yooyuen issued the warning, stating that the commission was worried about cryptocurrency exchanges providing onboarding users with exclusive benefits.
The Bangkok Post claims that crypto ads that include inaccurate, overstated, twisted, obfuscating, or deceptive information are against Thai law.
Similar actions have been taken by regulators from important cryptocurrency markets to reduce losses on investments. In 2023 alone, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom issued 450 alerts for illicit cryptocurrency advertisements.
Also, in November 2023, the National Stock Market Commission—Spain’s main securities market regulator—called out deceptive promotions of cryptocurrency assets on X and reaffirmed businesses’ need to abide by local regulations.
The SEC cautioned cryptocurrency exchanges not to onboard new users through special promotions and to provide appropriate cautions about investment risks.
Yooyuen claims that the following SEC advertisement guidelines shield investors from unnecessary risks:
“Operators may promote service usage without taking investment risks into account when they set up sales promotions and give prizes to attract customers to use the service. This is particularly true with regard to cryptocurrency.”
He issued a warning, saying that disobeying the specified rules would result in “punishment according to the law.”
Businesses and advertisers are required by Thai advertising rules to substantiate the “facts” mentioned in their marketing campaigns, failing which they run the danger of breaking local laws.
Recently, hackers took control of Etherscan’s ads, sending visitors to phishing websites intended to empty cryptocurrency wallets.
The large-scale phishing campaign may have originated from a lack of control by advertisement aggregators, according to Scam Sniffer, a blockchain investigative firm:
“Phishing attempts may be exposed due to inadequate filtering on platforms like Coinzilla and Persona, where ads are aggregated by Etherscan.”
In the wallet drainer scam, people are tricked into visiting phony websites and are then asked to attach their cryptocurrency wallets. Without user verification or consent, the scammer can withdraw money into their personal wallet addresses once they’ve been linked.
April 2024, Cryptoniteuae
