In October 2021, when cryptocurrency prices were soaring, we saw several Indian celebrities being associated with cryptocurrency exchanges endorsing investments in cryptocurrencies and also launching their non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that enabled fans to buy and trade in NFTs. The crypto exchanges believed endorsements from trusted personalities build awareness and trust for investing in cryptocurrencies, which is why many exchanges associated with celebrities to endorse cryptocurrencies and investment features.

In February 2022, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), a self-regulatory body of the advertising industry established in 1985, issued guidelines on celebrity endorsement of cryptocurrencies. They noticed that returns from crypto investments were being compared with existing regulated products, such as gold. That was unfair. Also, those advertisements did not highlight the risks associated with investing in cryptocurrencies.

Crypto prices have seen a sharp fall in 2022, highlighting the risks and uncertainties of an unregulated instrument. Further, as per some media reports last week, capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance that celebrities should not be allowed to endorse cryptocurrencies. Let’s look at some of the glitzy crypto advertisements by your favourite celebrities in the recent past.

In October 2021, CoinDCX a cryptocurrency exchange, signed up Ayushmann Khurrana to feature in their ad campaigns ‘Future Yahi Hai’ (This is the future), and to address key concerns surrounding crypto investments and myths related to cryptocurrencies. It aimed to educate millennial investors on the crypto being