Crypto-influencers regulated

In October, European Parliament officials voted to pass the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) Act. The law covers a very wide scope, the new regulations will cover everything from cryptocurrency mining, stablecoins and NFTs to trading, abuse and advertising. One of the clauses talks about sharing views on cryptocurrencies by influencers. According to the new regulations, profiting from the promotion of virtual currencies will be market manipulation. There is not yet a specific date from which publications will be subject to these rules, and how social media will be controlled to prevent such promotion.

More specifically: commenting on cryptocurrencies in social media and benefiting from it, a conflict of interest when an influencer takes a position on the stock exchange and then expresses an opinion to gain income, or even an innocent photo suggesting support for a given cryptocurrency will be considered manipulation. The crypto community supports such action and the idea of ​​taking responsibility of influencers for their words and the losses they lead to unwary players.

Officials in the Parliament agreed that influencers should be more transparent and that the new rules will make the entire EU more attractive to potential investors. Although the plans sound like a form of consumer protection, many see these regulations as an attempt to centralize and introduce control in the cryptocurrency industry. The new law will also address the regulation of stablecoins and the control of cryptocurrency-related service providers. As a result, there may be a situation where only fully regulated intermediaries will be able to operate in Europe.

One more vote is needed for the new MiCA to come into force. But that’s just a formality.