Share this article
India's Crypto Advertising Guidelines Are Out
The primary guideline requires all ads involving virtual digital assets to include a specific disclaimer.
By Amitoj Singh
Updated May 11, 2023, 3:56 p.m. Published Feb 23, 2022, 5:20 a.m.
The Advertising Stands Council of India (ASCI) has released guidelines for crypto or virtual digital assets related advertisements, which will be applicable on or after April 1. Earlier advertisements must not appear in the public domain unless they comply with the new guidelines after April 15, 2022.
The ASCI said it held extensive consultations "with different stakeholders including government and the virtual digital asset industry" to frame the guidelines.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
- The primary guideline requires all ads for VDA (virtual digital asset) products and VDA exchanges or featuring VDAs to carry the following disclaimer: “Crypto products and [non-fungible tokens] are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions.”
- According to the guidelines, the words “currency,” “securities,” “custodian” and “depositories” may not be used in advertisements of VDA products or services because consumers associate these terms with regulated products.
- The guidelines also mandate the cost or profitability of VDA products shall contain clear, accurate, sufficient and updated information. For example, “zero cost” will need to include all costs that the consumer might reasonably associate with the offer or transaction.
- The guidelines include a requirement that "returns for periods of less than 12 months shall not be included" in advertisements in order to make sure that "information on past performance shall not be provided in any partial or biased manner."
- India's advertising watchdog stated that several of the current crypto-related advertisements "do not adequately disclose the risks associated with such products."
- In November India Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting to consider regulatory prospects of cryptocurrencies. At that meeting, according to reports, a strong consensus was reached to stop "attempts to mislead the youth through over-promising and non-transparent advertising."
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
Consumer Groups Join Unions Trying to Derail U.S. Crypto Market Structure Bill
Political progressives have joined forces to oppose current versions of the industry-backed legislative effort in the Senate.
What to know:
- Consumer advocates are jumping in with unions to push back on the crypto market structure bill making its way through the U.S. Senate.
- They're saying it poses dangers to people's finances and the stability of the U.S. economy.
- Senators have been working toward a markup of the legislation in the Senate Banking Committee as soon as next week, though some expect the date to slip beyond the holidays.
Top Stories
