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U.S. regulators suing crypto platforms Coinbase and Binance,
along with last year's collapse of FTX, have sparked concerns
over consumer protection related to crypto assets such as
bitcoin and ether.
The European Union last month adopted the world's first
comprehensive set of rules for cryptoasset regulation (MiCa).
BEUC in its complaint filed on Thursday said the proliferation
of misleading advertisements of crypto assets on the social
media platforms is an unfair commercial practice as it exposes
consumers to serious harm such as the loss of significant
amounts of money.
It said this was happening through advertising and influencers.
It urged the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network to require
the online platforms to adopt stricter advertising policies on
crypto and take measures to prevent influencers from misleading
consumers.
The Network should subsequently inform the European Commission
about the effectiveness of these measures, BEUC said in its
joint complaint with nine of its members.
The group called on European consumer authorities to cooperate
with European Supervisory Authorities for financial services to
ensure the platforms adapt their advertising policies to prevent
the misleading promotion of crypto.
"Crypto will be regulated soon with the new Market in Crypto
Assets Regulation but this legislation does not apply to the
social media companies benefiting from the advertising of crypto
at the expense of consumers," BEUC Director General Monique
Goyens said in a statement.
"This is why we are turning to the authorities in charge of
protecting consumers to ensure Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and
Twitter fulfil their duty to protect consumers against crypto
scams and false promises," she said.
Consumer groups in Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania,
Portugal, Slovakia and Spain also signed up to the complaint.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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