On Tuesday, a renowned sports media house revealed that the Indian authorities have once again demonstrated their tough stance on cryptocurrencies by banning crypto advertising and sponsorships in the local women’s cricket league.
Sources reveal that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sent a 68-page long document advisory to the Women’s Premier League teams, highlighting the activities that cannot be entertained during the tournament. Among the gambling and tobacco industries, the document listed cryptocurrencies. It stated:
No franchisee shall undertake a partnership or any kind of association with an entity that is in any way connected/related to an entity that is involved/operates, directly or indirectly, in the cryptocurrency sector.
Notably, the recent ban follows a previous prohibition from 2022, when the men’s cricket premier league banned local crypto exchanges. Before that, the renowned Indian Premier League (IPL) had collaborated with at least two local crypto exchanges. Coincidentally in March last year, two crypto firms decided to no longer advertise in the IPL out of responsibility concerns.
India is one of the largest democracies in the world, and as per data in 2022, it had over 115 million investors despite regulatory uncertainty. The nation has mandated its citizens to pay a 30% tax on unrealized crypto gains. In the budget session of 2022, the nation introduced two laws demanding high taxes on crypto gains and transactions.
While the local pro-crypto associations requested changes to the tax regime, the year’s budget session disappointed the industry. Nirmala Sitharaman, the country’s finance minister, believes a global regulatory framework on crypto would be the best way to regulate the sector.
In recent times, crypto advertisement has become an important topic for regulators and enforcement agencies across the globe primarily due to the series of failures and bankruptcies of large platforms. In the United Kingdom, newly proposed advertising rules could potentially see executives of crypto firms face up to two years of prison for failing to meet certain requirements around promotion.
Similarly, South Africa’s Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) included a new clause for the crypto industry to protect investors from unethical advertising last month. As per the newly added clause in Section III of the country’s advertising code, companies and individuals in South Africa must abide by specific advertising standards about the provision of crypto products and services.
The first clause requires that the advertisers, including the crypto offerings, must “expressly and clearly” state that investments may result in the gradual loss of capital “as the value is variable and can go up as well as down.” In addition, the advertisements must not contradict warnings about potential investment losses.