The new rules imposed aim to protect consumers against scandals that cost South African users huge amounts of money between 2020 and 2021.

The South African Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) recently added special rules for cryptocurrency advertisements. The first rule requires advertisers to clearly state that investing in cryptocurrencies can lead to money losses. It also requires the advertisements to be easily understandable and the profits presented to be proven with documents.

The announced rules are also valid for influencers and social media posts. While initial press comments were reporting otherwise, the rules were reportedly initiated by cryptocurrency platforms. According to the specialized mediaCointelegraph, these new rules were designed in collaboration with the cryptocurrency platform Luno.

"Media platforms are understandably looking for advertisers, but we were concerned that they weren’t doing sufficient due diligence on whether advertisers were above board," commented Marius Reitz, Luno's General manager for Africa.

Farzam Ehsani, CEO of VALR, another platform that collaborated with the South African regulator in drafting the rules, explained that they were forced to act because of the actions of unscrupulous people hiding behind cryptocurrency companies.

Servan Ahougnon