Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) has issued regulatory guidelines on marketing, advertising, and promotions of virtual assets. The city’s dedicated crypto regulator announced the guidelines on August 25.
The local news agency, Gulf News, reported that the rules refer to all forms of outreach, communications and advertising, dissemination of information, building awareness, customer engagement, investor solicitation, and others. The guidelines require that all local virtual assets providers, including advertising platforms, ensure that they maintain factual accuracy and disclose any promotional intent in an effort to avoid misleading potential customers. The rules cover all virtual-asset-related communications and entities publishing information on Dubai-based media search platforms, media websites as well as online and offline publishing channels that target the Dubai market.
The regulator has said that the new rules relating to the country’s crypto-focused Minimal Viable Product (MVP) license. It said:
These regulations specifically address marketing and communications activities, ahead of operationalizing the MVP licensees so that any mass-market information dissemination, and consumer solicitation are designed to safeguard community interests.
It added:
The principles are supplemented by rigid enforcement standards and penalties for non-compliance that collectively provide market confidence ahead of MVP operations, as it augments marketing, data protection and consumer protection laws that have been well embedded across the UAE.
Established in March 2022, VARA is the world’s only independent regulator for digital assets that is tasked with providing a progressive framework that can enable borderless economic opportunity, without compromising market security. VARA is also responsible for licensing and regulating the digital asset market in Dubai and its free zone territories. It oversees licensing requirements and applications for authorisation of digital asset activities under United Arab Emirates law.
The regulator’s guidelines come only days after Abu Dhabi launched a new strategy for blockchain and virtual assets that aligns with its overall economic strategy. The Abu Dhabi Blockchain and Virtual Assets Committee on August 25 hosted its first meeting to discuss its new strategy.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
Source: https://cryptodaily.co.uk/2022/08/dubai-releases-crypto-marketing-rules-to-better-protect-investors