The long-awaited Cabinet nod is coming soon for the cryptocurrency bill. Cryptocurrency exchanges may slow down their advertising and shift their focus to education through advertisements.
Moneycontrol was told by an industry source that there is broad agreement among companies to slow down on advertising or do it in a responsible manner, with a greater focus on education and marketing.
At a meeting of stakeholders and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, concern was raised about non-transparent advertising which could mislead youth.
Following this meeting, a meeting was held between representatives from the cryptocurrency industry and the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on Nov 15. This brought up the topic of full-page crypto ads appearing in national dailies.
A report by The Economic Times shows that crypto exchanges such as CoinDCX and CoinSwitch Kuber spent a total amount of Rs 50 Crore in advertising during the ICC T20 World Cup.
These concerns are not taken lightly by the industry. “We will address this one step at time,” stated Sathvik Vishwanath (Founder and CEO of Unocoin).
Advertising guidelines are also important to the industry.
“A lot of people who normally invest in the traditional way became curious after seeing the crypto campaigns, which was a strong advantage for crypto players. However, the industry needs to educate more people about the topic before they can build the market,” Karthik Srinivasan, a communication strategist.
CoinSwitch Kuber hired actor Ranveer Sing as its brand ambassador in October. CoinDCX brought in actor Ayushmann Khurrana. For ads, exchanges also tie up with social media influencers.
Advertising has been moving at a rapid pace, but the industry will now need to be careful about the messages and disclaimers in these ads.
According to an industry source, the expectation for crypto exchanges is that advertising be transparent and not make false promises. Advertisements should be clear about the risks and inform the public that this sector is still being regulated.
Impending cryptocurrency bill
The industry is at a crucial moment as the Finance Ministry plans to present the cryptocurrency bill during the winter session. This will take place from November 29 through December 13. Moneycontrol reportedon November 15, that the government was currently working on the definition and tax treatment of gains for cryptocurrency. They also considered which regulatory body would be best.
On the one hand, discussions and consultations take place at the highest levels among the Reserve Bank of India and Finance Ministry. However, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance sought out answers from industry on how the sector is currently operating and how India can benefit from cryptocurrencies.
In Interview Jayanth Sinha, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, stated that different cryptocurrencies would need to be regulated differently depending on their use cases.
“Crypto financing can be used as an asset, commodity, or payment system. Sinha stated that we must properly group it in any of these categories. After that, we can draw clear lines so the taxation framework can then be applied seamlessly.”