Share this article
South African Self-Regulatory Body Mandates Risk Warnings in Crypto Ads
Under the industry’s self-regulation code, advertisements must clearly warn users of investment risk and social media influencers shouldn’t offer trading advice.
Updated Jan 23, 2023, 4:18 p.m. Published Jan 23, 2023, 9:05 a.m.
Crypto ads in South Africa must warn potential buyers that their capital can be at risk, under new guidelines put out Monday by the country’s Advertising Regulatory Board, a self-regulatory initiative by the ad and public relations industry.
The ARB is also seeking to tighten the rules for social media influencers who promote crypto.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
“This is a wonderful example of an industry that sees the harm that could be done in its name, and steps up to self-regulate the issues without being forced to do so by government,” Gail Schimmel, chief executive officer of the ARB, said in an emailed statement.
Crypto ads “must expressly and clearly state that investing in crypto assets may result in the loss of capital as the value is variable and can go up as well as down,” said the updated ARB guidance.
Social media influencers and ambassadors should only share factual information rather than offer advice on trading or promising guaranteed returns, it added.
The country is the latest to seek to ensure crypto publicity is fair and honest. The U.K. is also proposing legislation to constrain crypto promotions. In the U.S., reality TV star and influencer Kim Kardashian recently settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission for $1.26 million for hyping ethereumMax without disclosing she was being paid.
Read more: Crypto Marketing Needs to Change. Let’s Make 2023 the Year for Influencer Accountability
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
U.S. Senate's Crypto Market Structure Bill Gets Messy as Calendar Weighs Down
The White House has shut down proposals, and lawmakers are circulating the Democrats' asks in what had been a close negotiation, revealing 11th-hour pressure.
What to know:
- Democrats shared a response to Republicans outlining their continuing priorities for a crypto market structure bill, which they said was intended to "reach an agreement and proceed towards a mark-up."
- The document laid out concerns with financial stability, market integrity and public officials' ability to trade and profit off of crypto, echoing concerns laid out in a framework Democrats shared in September.
- The Senate is running out of time in the Congressional calendar to hold a markup hearing — a key step toward progressing the bill — before 2025 ends.
Top Stories
